BEIJING: China warned that remnants of a rocket would hit an area in the South China Sea, following the sixth deployment of its most powerful launch vehicle 11 days ago.
Rocket debris, which generally burns up in the atmosphere on re-entry, is expected to fall off the coast of Hainan, said the China Maritime Safety Administration.
A Long March 5 rocket lifted off on Dec 15 from Hainan’s Wenchang launch site, the sixth launch of the rocket type since its first flight in 2016. A variant – the Long March 5B – was previously used to launch a probe to Mars and space station modules.
A 2021 launch of the Long March 5B caused particular anxiety due to speculation over where remnants would land. In 2020, debris from a Long March 5B fell on Ivory Coast, damaging several buildings. — Reuters
