And in November, after a Long March 3B satellite launched two satellites into orbit, parts of the rocket's boosters crashed into a nearby Chinese settlement. This booster sticks around in orbit, lapping the planet before eventually falling back to Earth. In March, a massive side booster was found downrange from a launch site in Xichang, in China's Sichuan province. Much of it may burn up on re-entry, but a significant amount will not. This isn't the first time parts of a Chinese rocket have fallen over populated areas. In the next few days, a 23-tonne piece of rocket will plummet to Earth at about 15,000 miles an hour. That's definitely not the current best practice by international standards.' ET Saturday, the US Space Command said on. Space Command reported that the debris from the Long March 5B rocket re-entered. Photograph: VCG/Getty Images The Long March5B Chinese rocket launched a module of. Remnants of a massive Chinese rocket that was descending uncontrollably back to Earth reentered the atmosphere over the Indian Ocean at roughly 12:45 p.m. A Chinese rocket booster plummeted to Earth on Friday morning, falling into the Pacific Ocean. A 21-ton section of a rocket launched by China’s space agency finally returned to Earth’s atmosphere Saturday night, falling above either the Indian Ocean or the Arabian Peninsula, after the. A Long March 5B rocket, carrying Chinas Tianhe space. 'This rocket stage was just let in low-Earth orbit until friction brought it down. The rocket’s core is falling out of Earth’s orbit and is expected to make an uncontrolled re-entry this week. Chinese rocket returns to Earth, falling into Indian Ocean Andrew Chamings, SFGATE Updated: 10:24 p.m. 'You might make it so that the engine can restart after you've delivered your satellite into orbit, so you fire up the engine and bring the rocket stage in over the South Pacific, where it's not going to hit anyone,' McDowell said. While it's common for spent rocket parts to fall back to Earth after boosting spacecraft or satellites into orbit, space agencies and satellite companies typically take extra precautions for decommissioned satellites or rocket stages of this size so they aren't left to make uncontrolled re-entries. McDowell said there are some reports that debris may have hit the roof of a house in Cote d'Ivoire, but so far there are no reported casualties from the event.

Rocket falling to earth