KUCHING, July 31 — Several bright objects, suspected to be debris from a Chinese rocket that had fallen back to earth, were seen streaking across the night sky here last night.
The objects appeared after midnight and various video recordings of the spectacle have been shared on social media.
It is believed that the debris is from China’s Long March 5B rocket which was launched on July 24 to send a space module into orbit.
According to AFP, the Long March 5B rocket was used last Sunday to launch an uncrewed spacecraft, named Wentian, carrying the second of three modules China needed to complete its new Tiangong space station.
The Tiangong space station is one of the crown jewels of Beijing’s ambitious space programme, which has landed robotic rovers on Mars and the Moon, and made China only the third nation to put humans in orbit.
The new module, propelled by the Long March 5B, successfully docked with Tiangong’s core module on Monday and the three astronauts who had been living in the main compartment since June successfully entered the new lab.
The debris is reportedly from a booster rocket attached to the main rocket that did not jettison as planned.
The Malaysian Space Agency is issuing a statement on the matter. — Borneo Post
