In the last year, there have been several occasions in which a piece of space debris from these vehicles has been thrown out of orbit and fallen on Earth, so scientists are preparing to receive scrap.
This time it is about fragments of the Long March 5B rocket that was used on July 24 to carry new parts to the Tiangong space station. According to the observations and calculations of Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center, the first stage of the Chinese rocket was left freely in orbit after completing its work. Therefore, it is most likely to go out of orbit and fall uncontrollably to Earth.
This is a common thing, it doesn’t just happen with Chinese rockets. The result is often that pieces of space debris burn up on contact with the atmosphere, breaking down into pieces so small that they would rarely do any damage.
It may interest you: Causes of the car shortage and effects on the world economy
However, this case could be something more worrying, since the rocket that was used measures 53.6 meters and weighs 837,500 kilograms. No matter how much it breaks down, the fragments could still be large and pose a risk.