Debris from a Chinese rocket will re-enter Earth's atmosphere over the weekend, sometime between 19:53 pm on Saturday and 11:53 am on Sunday, according to the latest forecasts.
It is a rocket Long March 5B, with an estimated weight of between 17 and 22 tonnes and traveling through uncontrolled space at a speed of 28 kilometers per hour.
The experts' calculations, made from observations and mathematical models, point out that, if the device does not completely disintegrate in the atmosphere, the debris will more likely fall into the sea.
The trajectory of the Long March 5B is being monitored, as it could interfere with the airspace, where according to an alert issued by the European Aviation Safety Agency, Portugal, Bulgaria, France, Greece, Italy, Malta and Spain as the countries whose airspace could eventually be affected by the rocket debris.
However, the same entity noted that, given that it is a “uncontrolled reentry", was "hard to predict exactly” where the debris would fall, signaling that a “more detailed forecast"may be made available"just a few hours from impact".
The rocket was launched last Sunday from the island of Hainan to transport a module of the new Chinese space station and is circling the Earth.
In May 2021, another rocket, also Long March 5B, almost completely disintegrated in the Earth's atmosphere and the debris fell harmlessly into the Indian Ocean.
