Beijing confirmed on Friday that the Chinese rocket expected to re-enter the atmosphere in an uncontrolled manner this weekend poses no threat to the Earth's inhabitants, following criticisms from the United States regarding a potential danger. China launched the first three components of its space station last week with the "Long March 5B" rocket, which is expected to have its remaining structure, still in low Earth orbit, return to an unknown point on Earth.
The United States does not rule out the possibility that the rocket's structure could fall in a populated area, stating it is closely monitoring the situation. However, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters on Friday, "Due to the technical design of this rocket, most of its components will burn up and be destroyed upon re-entry into the atmosphere." He noted that "the likelihood of causing damage... on the ground is very minimal."
After separating from the spacecraft, the rocket began orbiting the Earth in an uncontrolled path, slowly losing altitude, making it nearly impossible to predict the point at which it will re-enter the atmosphere. If the rocket remains intact upon re-entry, there is a high chance it will crash into the ocean, as water covers 70% of the Earth's surface. However, the possibility of it falling in a populated area or hitting a ship at sea remains.
This is not the first time China has lost control of a spacecraft upon returning to Earth. In April 2018, the space lab "Tiangong-1" broke apart during its re-entry after two years of being inactive. Chinese authorities denied at the time that they had lost control of the lab.
