25-ton Chinese rocket crashes from space into Indian Ocean

A big piece of space junk from a Chinese Long March 5B rocket has crashed back to Earth into the Indian Ocean.

The debris was expected to fall this Saturday in a populated area of Mexico in the Baja California peninsula near Cabo San Lucas, according to the European Union's Satellite Tracking and Surveillance Service (SST), but reentered Earth's atmosphere over the Indian Ocean this afternoon (July 30), ending its brief but controversial orbital stay, Space Magazine reported. 

The falling space debris is part of a huge 23 metric ton propellant belonging to the Great March 5B rocket, which was traveling uncontrolled at a speed of 28,000 kilometers per hour.

U.S Command confirmed the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Long March 5B (CZ-5B) re-entered over the Indian Ocean at approx 10:45 am MDT on 7/30.

#USSPACECOM can confirm the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Long March 5B (CZ-5B) re-entered over the Indian Ocean at approx 10:45 am MDT on 7/30. We refer you to the #PRC for further details on the reentry’s technical aspects such as potential debris dispersal+ impact location.

— U.S. Space Command (@US_SpaceCom) July 30, 2022

The Chinese rocket, which departed last July 24 from the island of Hainan and was intended to transport the Wentian laboratory cabin module to China's incomplete Tiangong space station, was circling the Earth in an uncontrolled descent, raising questions about space protocols, according to U.S non-profit Aerospace Corporation. 

"There are several international standards with recommendations for how to estimate and mitigate the risk from objects returning from space," said Robin Dickey, an Aerospace space policy analyst. 

After the re-entry of another Long March 5B in May 2021, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said:

“Spacefaring nations must minimize the risks to people and property on Earth of re-entries of space objects and maximize transparency regarding those operations… it is clear that China is failing to meet responsible standards regarding their space debris.”

The Chinese Foreign Ministry previously assured that the probability of the Long March 5B causing damage after its fall to Earth was "extremely low" and warned that "in its final stage, the rocket re-enters the atmosphere and there, most of its components will be destroyed".

In May 2021, another Long March 5B rocket raised global surveillance service concerns but ended up disintegrating almost entirely, and the wreckage fell into the Indian Ocean without causing any damage, according to Space Magazine.

There is not a set or required response to uncontrolled re-entries of large rocket bodies, according to Dickey, "but if the rocket stage does impact a populated area and it hurts people or damages property, the launching state — in this case, China — has [an] absolute liability to pay for damages," he added, citing the 1972 Liability Convention.