China's Long March 5B Rocket Debris Found in Philippines, Nearby Southeast Asian Countries

More information about the appearance of the Chinese rocket's debris in several Southeast Asian locales has come to light. Several pieces of the Long March 5B rocket's wreckage have been discovered in Malaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia.

Without the intervention of Chinese space agency specialists, the core stage of a Long March 5B rocket, weighing up to 22.5 metric tons, reentered the Earth's atmosphere recently.

Space.com, citing the experts, noted that most rockets burnt up when they returned to Earth's atmosphere. But 20 to 40% of its weight had made it to the ground.

According to reports, some of China's Long March 5B rocket fragments were large enough to cause significant harm or injury if they landed in Southeast Asian communities.

Debris From the Long March 5B Rocket Crash Found in Southeast Asian Countries

The Associated Press reports that on Monday, a Chinese rocket that was used to accelerate the deployment of China's new space station crashed into an area of the western Philippines.

A Filipino official claimed that in the western Philippine region where it was claimed that Chinese rocket debris had fallen, there were no signs of any damage.

Marc Talampas, a Philippine Space Agency official, told AP that authorities had been instructed to keep a watch out for any rocket debris that may have splashed down into the waters of the province of Palawan.

Talampas added that they are now keeping a careful eye on the issue. They have also warned the general public, telling people to exercise caution, keep their distance from any potential floating debris, and get in touch with local authorities immediately.

The capital city of Palawan, Puerto Princesa, is situated on the oceans towards the southeast. According to AP, the Chinese Space Agency allegedly failed to provide the Philippine Space Agency with information on the rocket debris.

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The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer and satellite tracker, tweeted that "significant debris" from China's Long March 5B rocket disaster had been discovered in Kalimantan, Indonesia, and Sarawak, Malaysia.

So, CZ-5B recap: signficant debris falls in Kalimantan, Indonesia and Sawarak, Malaysia (both on Borneo). No casualties or property damage reported, but debris is near villages and a few hundred metres either way could have been a different story.
— Jonathan McDowell (@planet4589) August 1, 2022

Although no casualties or property damage were recorded, experts were concerned since the debris had really landed "a few hundred meters" away from settlements.

On July 24, the Long March-5B rocket, China's most powerful rocket, sent the Wentian laboratory into orbit. The Tianhe main module, which holds three astronauts, was securely bonded to it.

The Chinese government previously said that when the bulk of a separate cargo spaceship that housed the station burnt up on reentry, the station's remnants ended up dropping into a specified location in the South Pacific.

(Photo : Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)
(FILE PHOTO) China launches Long March 2F rocket to bring its first space lab, the Tiangong-1, to space.

China Under Fire Again Over the Long March 5B Rocket Crash

China's inability to keep its space junk under control is not new. In reality, China allowed the Long March 5B cores to end up in orbit twice during the rocket's previous missions.

The first Long March 5B mission, which took place in May 2020, caused debris to fall on the Ivory Coast nation in West Africa. China once more allowed its space debris to drop over the Indian Ocean in April 2021.

Bill Nelson, the administrator of NASA, criticized China on Twitter for neglecting to "share specific trajectory information" on the Long March 5B rocket disaster as it descended to Earth.

…reliable predictions of potential debris impact risk, especially for heavy-lift vehicles, like the Long March 5B, which carry a significant risk of loss of life and property.

Doing so is critical to the responsible use of space and to ensure the safety of people here on Earth.
— Bill Nelson (@SenBillNelson) July 30, 2022

To "follow established best practices," particularly for large vehicles like the Long March 5B, he advocated that all spacefaring nations must "allow reliable predictions of potential debris impact risk" and be responsible enough to communicate such information.

China does not intend to stop launching the Long March 5B. According to Yahoo! Finance, it will be used twice more. The rocket will launch the following year again to carry the Xuntian space telescope after delivering the third and final component of Tiangong in October.