Thread by @BiIndia

The world can expect at least 2 repeats of the uncontrolled #ChineseRocket crash, according to Europe's space agency

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The world can expect more pieces of #ChineseRocket debris raining from the sky in the coming years, a spokesperson from the European Space Agency (ESA) told Insider.

#LongMarch5B

Beijing is planning 10 more missions to complete its space station by the end of 2022.

Two of these would be using #LongMarch5B rockets, the same type of rocket than the one which was being tracked by international space agencies last week.

#ChineseRocket

"We can expect a similar situation for the next two launches or how many they will do with #LongMarch5B," Thomas Reiter, an astronaut and the interagency coordinator for the ESA, told Insider in an interview.

#ChineseRocket

A module from a Long March 5B rocket launched by China reentered the atmosphere on Saturday at 10:24 PM ET in the Indian Ocean near the Maldives, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

#ChineseRocket #LongMarch5B

US Space Command, a branch of the US military that had been tracking the object, was less sure in a statement on Sunday, saying that "it is unknown if the debris impacted land or water."

#ChineseRocket #LongMarch5B

According to the ESA's Reiter, China has not shared technical details for its future plans with other countries.

Reiter told Insider: "I just don't know why they were driven to put this huge 33-meter, five-meter-diameter core stage into orbit. It's very unusual."

#ChineseRocket

China has not said whether the module's re-entry into the atmosphere was uncontrolled, though this was widely assumed by observers, including Reiter.

#ChineseRocket #LongMarch5B

"It is critical that China and all spacefaring nations and commercial entities act responsibly and transparently in space," NASA Administrator Sen. Bill Nelson said in a statement on Sunday.

#ChineseRocket #LongMarch5B