Debris of China\`s out-of-control rocket falls near Maldives
Debris from a Chinese rocket that had been hurtling back towards Earth has disintegrated over the Indian Ocean_ China says.
The bulk of the rocket was destroyed during the re-entry_ but parts landed at a location 72.47° East and 2.65° North_ Chinese state-run media reported. The point lies west of the Maldives.
US and European tracking sites had been monitoring the uncontrolled fall of the Long March-5b vehicle.
Chinese state media said parts of the rocket re-entered the atmosphere at 10:24 Beijing time (02:24 GMT) on Sunday.
US Space Command said in a statement that it could "confirm the Chinese Long March-5b re-entered over the Arabian Peninsula". It was "unknown if the debris impacted land or water_" the agency said.
Ahead of the rocket's re-entry there were fears that debris could come down in an inhabited area. US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said China had been negligent in letting the rocket fall out of orbit.
However_ space experts had predicted that the chances of anyone actually being hit by a piece of space junk were very small_ not least because so much of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean_ and huge land areas are uninhabited.
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