Long March rocket debris will burn up on re-entry, ‘unlikely to cause harm’, China says

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin says the Pentagon has the ‘capability to do a lot of things, but we don’t have a plan to shoot it down, as we speak’

Aerospace Corporation predicts re-entry will occur around noon on Sunday Beijing time

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The Long March-5B Y2 rocket, carrying the core module of China's space station Tianhe, takes off from Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province, China April 29, 2021. Photo: Reuters

Published: 5:00pm, 7 May 2021Updated: 10:45pm, 7 May 2021

China’s Long March 5B rocket is unlikely to cause any harm when it re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Friday.

The assessment from ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin came after US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said the Pentagon had no plan to shoot down the rocket that is expected to plunge back to Earth this weekend.

Wang said most of the debris from the rocket would burn up on re-entry and was highly unlikely to cause any harm.

“The Chinese side is highly concerned about re-entry of the rocket,” Wang said. “As far as I know, this type of rocket has a special technical design. Most of the components will be burned and destroyed during the re-entry process, and the probability of causing harm to aviation activities and the ground is extremely low.”

The rocket, carrying the core module for China’s Tiangong Space Station, blasted off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on the the southern island province of Hainan on April 29.

Austin said the remnants of the rocket were expected to return to Earth at some time between Saturday and Sunday.

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