China's Tianzhou 6 cargo spacecraft burns up in Earth's atmosphere

A spacecraft departs a space station with the curve of earth and the blackness of space in the background.

China deorbited its robotic Tianzhou 6 cargo spacecraft today (Jan. 19) after it completed its mission serving the country's space station.

The 35-foot-long (10.6 meters) Tianzhou 6 reentered over an area of ocean, likely the South Pacific — an area frequently used by countries for deorbiting spacecraft due to its remoteness — today at 7:37 a.m. EST (1237 GMT; 8:37 p.m. Beijing time), China's human spaceflight agency announced.