Jerry Lara
The newspaper “Global Time”, which often serves as an English-language propaganda organ, wrote on Thursday with reference to space experts.
Western space experts had warned of possible debris due to an “uncontrolled” re-entry of the 20-ton main rocket stage into the atmosphere this weekend or Monday. The new, particularly stable rocket of the “Long March 5B” type launched the “Tianhe” (Heavenly Harmony) core module into space last Thursday. The young space nation began building its own space station.
The fact that remains of rockets fall back to earth is “common in the aerospace industry”, wrote the “Global Times”. The paper saw behind the warnings “nothing more than Western hype about a threat from China” in space technology.
The expert Wang Ya’nan, editor-in-chief of an aerospace magazine, was also quoted as saying that China’s space agencies had carefully considered the development of falling debris, from the design of the rocket and the choice of the launch site to its flight path and altitude.
“Most of the debris will burn up when it re-enters the earth’s atmosphere, leaving only a very small portion that falls to the earth, potentially in areas far away from human activity or in the ocean,” said Wang Ya’nan. According to the Global Times, experts also stated that the rocket stage was built primarily from lightweight material that usually burns when it reenters.