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China’s Tiangong space station burns in atmosphere over Pacific Ocean

The Tiangong-1 space station was launched into orbit in September 2011

BEIJING, April 2. /TASS/. The Chinese Tiangong-1 space station burned up in the atmosphere over the southern part of the Pacific Ocean. According to the Chinese Manned Space Agency (CMSA), the vast majority of its debris did not reach the Earth.

The space station re-entered the top of the atmosphere at 08:15 Beijing time (03:15 Moscow time). The vast majority of [its] parts burned up while re-entering the atmosphere, the center reported.

The Tiangong-1 space station weighing 8.5 tonnes is 12 meters long and has a diameter of 3.3 meters. It was launched into orbit in September 2011. The Shenzhou-type spacecraft docked with it twice within the next two years. However, later on, the space station’s flights became unmanned.

On March 25, The Hill reported citing experts at the California-based Aerospace Corporation that the debris from the station could fall in Spain, Portugal, France and Greece. However, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lu Kang said on Friday that the probability of large debris from the space station falling to the territory of any countries was extremely low, and officials in Beijing would promptly inform certain states about the risk, if necessary.

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