Debris of a massive part of a Chinese Long March 5B (CZ–5B) rocket have splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Mauritania, the US Air Force's 18th Space Control Squadron confirms.
The rocket successfully blasted off on 5 May, but its core stage re-entered Earth's atmosphere after several days in orbit and eventually uncontrollably fell into the Atlantic.
The core measured 17.8 tonnes, making it one of the most massive pieces of space junk to make such a descent. Its huge dimensions made observers worried whether the debris could land on inhabited land.
The core stage is the fourth largest piece of space junk ever to make an uncontrolled descent. Other instances included a Soviet space station, Salyut-7, and and US space station Skylab in 1979 as well the rocket stage of Skylab in 1975.
