A Chinese missile fell uncontrollably to the ground, crashing over the Indian Ocean. The US military has yet to say whether the wreckage of the Long March 5B launch pad has caused any damage. Some debris burned into the atmosphere.
The rocket was used on July 24 to launch a module to the Tiangong Space Station, which is now under construction. The Chinese have already been criticized by the US space agency NASA, among others, that the rocket is not designed for a controlled landing from Earth orbit.
The same thing happened last year. At that time, the same type of rocket launched the first part of the Chinese space station into space, and then no one knew where the remnants of the rocket would fall on Earth. Eventually it crashed into the Indian Ocean, somewhere near the Maldives.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the debris was unlikely to cause damage to aircraft, people and objects on the ground. He said most missile components would be destroyed upon re-entry.
