A large piece of metal was also found in Indonesia that was probably part of the rocket. The metal debris landed not far from local settlements.
According to local authorities, it is not yet possible to say with certainty that these are fragments of the rocket. on Twitter Based on photos, astronomer Jonathan McDowell reports that the piece of metal that fell in Indonesia is “clearly” a large part of the exploded rocket. But he cannot yet identify the rubble in Sarawak.
“There were no injuries or damage to buildings as far as I know,” McDowell added. “But if it had been a few hundred yards one way or the other, it could have been a different story.”
Rocket transported part of space station
The Long March 5B was launched on July 24. The rocket launched the second module of the new Chinese space station Tiangong into space. After the successful coupling of this module with the space station, the rocket remained in orbit for a while, after which it crashed to Earth.
The rocket is 30 meters long and weighs 22,000 kilograms. Normally, such space debris is carefully guided to a safe place, but China did not try.
Moreover, because China kept the path of the debris a secret, it was not possible to estimate in advance where they would land. The country was criticized for this: NASA, among others, pointed out that this tactic makes it impossible to prevent people from being hit by falling metal.
The Chinese government plans to launch another Long March 5B rocket later this year. This missile will carry Tiangong’s third and final module.
