China has notified the United Nations of the planned area for the fall of the debris of the Tiangong-2 space lab, which completed its mission, the Permanent Mission of China to the UN said in a note published on the website of the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) on Thursday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th July, 2019) China has notified the United Nations of the planned area for the fall of the debris of the Tiangong-2 space lab, which completed its mission, the Permanent Mission of China to the UN said in a note published on the website of the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) on Thursday."The Tiangong-2 space laboratory has completed all the expansion tests, and it is scheduled to leave orbit and undergo controlled re-entry into the atmosphere on 19 July (Beijing time). A small amount of debris is expected to fall into the safe area in the southern Pacific Ocean (160-90 degrees West longitude and 30-45 degrees South latitude)," the note says.
In 2011, China launched the Tiangong-1 space laboratory, which was visited by two crews. In 2016, the Tiangong-2 laboratory was launched into orbit, and one crew visited it.
In the early 2020s, China plans to assemble a modular orbital space station. The launch of the Tianhe basic module is scheduled for 2020, and by 2023, laboratory cabin modules Wentian and Mengtian will be docked to it. The total weight of the station will be 60 tonnes, it is expected to last 10 years. The station is designed for crews of three astronauts.
