Much of China’s missile has crashed into the Indian Ocean.

Previously, it was feared where an object weighing 18 tons would fall.

Beijing officials have previously said that the free-falling part of the Long March-5B missile is not a threat. This missile launched the first module of the new Chinese space station into Earth orbit on April 29.

But the US space agency NASA and some experts have said that China has acted irresponsibly because the uncontrolled return of a large object to Earth could cause damage and possible victims.

“After the follow-up and analysis on May 9 of this year at 10 pm 24 min. The last part of the Long March 5B Yao rocket has returned to the atmosphere in local time (5 hours 24 minutes Lithuanian time), ”said the China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO), which also provided the coordinates of the object’s fall nearby from the Maldives.

Most of the fallen object is reported to have collapsed and was destroyed during the fall.

Meanwhile, the US Army Space Command reported that the missile “returned over the Arabian Peninsula on Sunday around 2:15 pm Greenwich Mean Time (5 hours 15 minutes, Lithuanian time).” “It is not known whether the debris fell to the ground or into the water,” he said.

Space-Track, a US military-based monitoring service, said Saudi Arabia was the last place US systems captured part of the missile. “Operators have confirmed that the missile did indeed hit the Indian Ocean north of the Maldives,” he said.

Since this was an uncontrolled fall, there was great concern about where the rocket part would land. As a result, the American and European space services were among those who followed the trajectory of the rocket and tried to predict where it would return to Earth’s atmosphere.

The rocket launched the first module of the future Chinese space station, which weighs 22.5 tons and covers an area of ​​50 square meters, into Earth’s orbit at an altitude of 370 km. The module has a control center, living room and lock. In total, the construction of the station will require 11 rocket launches and just over a year.

In total, the Chinese intend to build two laboratory modules that will be connected to the main module. China plans to launch four cargo and four manned spacecraft.

The space station, completed in 2022, will weigh a total of about 100 tons and will be several times smaller than the International Space Station. The Chinese station will be able to accommodate three crew members.