China’s Tiangong-1 space station has made a self-destructive re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere over the South Pacific.
Most of the parts of the defunct station burnt up once it entered the atmosphere and landed in the Pacific Ocean.
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In a statement cited by theguardian.com, China Manned Space Engineering Office said: “Through monitoring and analysis by Beijing Aerospace Control Centre and related agencies, Tiangong 1 re-entered the atmosphere at about 8.15am, 2 April, Beijing time (1.15am GMT).
“The re-entry falling area is located in the central region of the South Pacific.”
The US Joint Force Space Component Command (JFSCC) has also confirmed the space station’s re-entry after coordinating with its counterparts in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea and the UK.
China’s foreign and defence ministries noted that the country had communicated about Tiangong-1’s arrival on earth to the United Nations (UN) space agency.
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By GlobalDataTiangong-1, which means Heavenly Palace, was launched in September 2011 from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in north-west China to conduct docking and orbit experiments.
The 34.1ft-long station is part of the country’s space effort aiming to build a permanently manned station in orbit by 2023.
China originally planned to decommission the station in 2013, but repeatedly extended its operations.
However, in 2016, Tiangong-1 had reportedly stopped working and responding to ground control.
In December, China finally informed the UN about the possible re-entry of Tiangong-1 by late March.
