JIUQUAN, CHINA — China says its first space lab Tiangong-1 will likely fall back to Earth in the second half of 2017, which seems to confirm speculation that it has already lost control of the spacecraft.
Tiangong-1 spacecraft is currently orbiting Earth at an altitude of 370 km, which is about 30 km lower than the orbit of the International Space Station. It was launched in September 2011 and has stopped sending data back to Earth since March this year.
“Based on our calculation and analysis, most parts of the space lab will burn up during falling,” Wu Ping, deputy director of the manned space engineering office said in a press conference.
However, satellite tracker Thomas Dorman thinks such statement has confirmed his view that China has lost control of Tiangong-1 and the country will only inform the world at the very last minute, Space.com reported.
According to Xinhua News, China will continue to monitor Tiangong-1 and send out warnings for possible collisions with objects and report internationally if necessary.
