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Chinese rocket falls to Earth, NASA says Beijing did not share information

31 July 2022 02:29 (UTC +04:00)

A Chinese rocket fell back to Earth on Saturday over the Indian Ocean but NASA said Beijing had not shared the "specific trajectory information" needed to know where possible debris might fall, APA reports citing Reuters.

U.S. Space Command said the Long March 5B said the rocket re-entered over the Indian Ocean at approximately 12:45 p.m. EDT Saturday (1645 GMT), but referred questions about "reentry’s technical aspects such as potential debris dispersal impact location" to China.

"All spacefaring nations should follow established best practices and do their part to share this type of information in advance to allow reliable predictions of potential debris impact risk," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said. "Doing so is critical to the responsible use of space and to ensure the safety of people here on Earth."

Social media users in Malaysia posted video of what appeared to be rocket debris.

Aerospace Corp, a government funded nonprofit research center near Los Angeles, said it was reckless to allow the rocket's entire main-core stage - which weighs 22.5 tons (about 48,500 lb) - to return to Earth in an uncontrolled reentry.