China’s Long March 5B rocket makes splash, but good news burns up in the atmosphere

Name: Debris from China’s Long March rocket lands in Indian Ocean, drawing criticism from Nasa
Uploaded: 2021-05-11T21:00:18.000Z
Duration: 2 min 5 s
Description: Debris from China’s Long March rocket lands in Indian Ocean, drawing criticism from Nasa

Casualties avoided, but China is criticised for failing to plan a ‘targeted re-entry’ to determine where debris would land

The rocket and its predecessor – debris from which landed in Africa – have made the largest uncontrolled descents in 30 years, amid differing views on the risks

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The returning rocket stage was 33 metres long and weighed over 20 tonnes, making it the sixth-largest object to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere. Photo: Xinhua

Kristin Huang

Published: 5:00am, 12 May 2021Updated: 5:34am, 12 May 2021

Its fragments plunged into the Indian Ocean with no casualties, but the fall to Earth of the Long March 5B rocket focused attention on China’s forays into space – against the inevitable backdrop of broader tussles with the West.

As the rocket was re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere on Sunday, US space agency Nasa said China had failed to “meet responsible standards”, before China hit back, saying the operation was conducted within international law.

Space operation experts said that the criticism of China was based on established space practice, but the descent of the Long March 5B highlighted differences between Chinese and US views, magnified on this occasion by the giant size of the launcher rocket and China’s failure to plan a “targeted re-entry” of its debris.

China announced that the “great majority” of the debris had burned up before it reached the Indian Ocean near the Maldives – confirming its earlier prediction that it was unlikely to cause any harm.

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Debris from China’s Long March rocket lands in Indian Ocean, drawing criticism from Nasa

Before the announcement, Nasa administrator Bill Nelson said that all spacefaring nations should minimise risks to people and property on Earth, and maximise transparency.