(MENAFN- Trend News Agency ) China's Tiangong-1 space station has crashed in the Pacific Ocean, according to the country's space agency, The Guardian reports.
The spacecraft re-entered the earth's atmosphere at 0015 GMT on Monday over the South Pacific and mostly burnt up on re-entry, state news agency Xinhua said
The US military appeared to confirm the re-entry with a statement from its Joint Force Space Component Command (JFSCC).
The 10.4-metre-long (34.1-foot) Tiangong-1, or Heavenly Palace 1, was launched in 2011 to carry out docking and orbit experiments as part of China's ambitious space programme, which aims to place a permanent station in orbit by 2023.
It was originally planned to be decommissioned in 2013 but its mission was repeatedly extended. Eventually, in 2016, it had become apparent to space-watchers that the craft had stopped functioning and was no longer responding to ground control.
In December 2017, China eventually made a statement to the UN predicting that Tiangong-1 would come down by late March 2018.
Follow Trend on Telegram. Only most interesting and important news
MENAFN0204201801870000ID1096682559
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.