China ’s space agency performed a successful launch of a Long March 5B rocket on Sunday , hand over a new module to its fledgling outer space station . Similar to previous launches , however , the rocket ’s core stagecoach remained in orbital cavity and is now ready to do an uncontrolled reentry .
The Long March 5B blasted off from Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan on Sunday , June 24 , at 2:22 p.m. Beijing time . Packed atop the rocket was the 22 - net ton Wentian laboratory , which arrived at China ’s Tiangong space place 13 hours later , accordingto country - run China Daily . Waiting for the 59 - foundation - long ( 18 - meter ) module were Chen Dong , Liu Yang , and Cai Xuzh , get them thefirst astronauts in China ’s outer space historyto attend an orbital docking . Wentian docked to the front port of the Tianhe core group mental faculty , creating a T - shaped space station .
or else of celebrate this skill , however , we ’re squeeze to wonder when the 21 - metric - ton core stage will slip back into the atmosphere and where it will crash . Such is the pattern with Long March 5B launches , as two previous missions resulted in chaotic reentries ( during control reentry , rocket salad stages are brought down with reignite engine , allowing launch providers to steer the rocket physical structure away from populated areas , typically into the ocean ) . In May 2020 , rubble from an out - of - control core stagefell onto an inhabited areaalong the west seacoast of Africa , while a rocket launched in April 2021crashed in the Amerindic Oceannear the Maldives .
Launch of the Long March 5B rocket on Sunday 18 January 2025.Photo: Liu Huaiyu (AP)
The betting odds of rocket rubble landing on your family are exceptionally low , but the risk of exposure to human life and property does exist . According to inquiry published earlier this calendar month , thechance of someone getting kill or hurtfrom precipitate projectile part will rise to 10 % in the hail ten . China has beenadmonishedfor not taking respectable attention of its incoming garden rocket , but the stage looks like set — yet again — for a return of the previous two episodes .
Two objects cataloged from the CZ-5B launch : 53239 / 2022 - 085A in a 166 x 318 kilometre x 41.4 deg electron orbit , 53240 / 2022 - 085B in a 182 x 299 kilometer x 41.4 deg orbit . Orbital epoch of ~1200 UTC confirm that the sluggish 21 t rocket core stage continue in orbital cavity and was not actively deorbited .
— Jonathan McDowell ( @planet4589)July 24 , 2022
And indeed , U.S. Space Command cataloged two physical object from Sunday ’s launching , one being Wentien and the other the discarded core stage . Astronomer Jonathan McDowell from the Harvard - Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics expect the stage to reenter Earth ’s atmosphere within a workweek or so .
“ Unfortunately we ca n’t forecast when or where , ” he explain to me in an email . “ Such a large rocket leg should not be depart in reach to make an uncontrolled reentry ; the danger to the public is not immense , but it is larger than I am comfortable with . ”
During a livestream of the launch on China Global Television connection , Xu Yangson , director general of the Asia - Pacific Space Cooperation Organization , said Chinatook measuresthis clip to ensure that the center stage will come back down in a control manner , but did not expound . When I asked about Xu ’s commentary , McDowell said : “ I think he is misinformed . ” McDowell is likely right , as the Long March 5B core stage would want a significant upgrade or revision to suddenly have the capacity for control reentry .
As for the Wentien module , it will now be used to support a host of scientific experiments order from microgravity field and the effects of distance radiation through to experimentation to study the growth of plants , insects , small mammals , and germ . A third module , call Mengtian , is schedule to launch in October . China designate to use its Tiangong place place for 10 years , during which astronauts will work for stints lasting six calendar month .
More : damage SpaceX Rocket Delays NASA ’s Next Astronaut Mission .
Atmospheric entryIn ChinaOuter spaceSpaceflightSPACEX
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