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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Jordyn Beazley

Chinese rocket re-entry: suspected debris lands in Malaysia and Indonesia

Rocket transporting China’s second module takes off for Tiangong space station from Wenchang spaceport in southern China.
Rocket transporting China’s second module takes off for Tiangong space station from Wenchang spaceport in southern China. Debris was allowed to fall to Earth uncontrolled. Photograph: CNS/AFP/Getty Images

Debris suspected to be from a Chinese booster rocket that made an uncontrolled return to Earth on Saturday has reportedly been found metres from villages in Malaysia and Indonesia.

A charred ring of metal about five metres in diameter was found on Sunday in Kalimantan, Indonesia, according to a Malaysian news outlet. Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said the metal appeared to be the exact size of the Chinese rocket’s core stage.

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