UAE to monitor fall of Tiangong-1 space lab. Credit: UAE Space Agency.

The UAE Space Agency has collaborated with International Astronomical Centre (IAC) to monitor the descent of China’s Tiangong-1 space laboratory back to Earth.

The Tiangong-1 is expected to fall next month somewhere between 43° north and south latitude, which covers most of the Middle East.

The UAE Space Agency confirmed, however, that the lab will vapourise when it re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere, without touching the ground.

“These objects do not pose a threat to the planet or its population due to their small size or the speed at which they are vapourised in the Earth’s atmosphere.”

Despite its uncontrollable fall, the Tiangong-1 will not pose any risk to Earth and the population. However, some of the debris of the lab could fall into the sea.

China launched the lab from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in September 2011, with an aim of carrying out various experiments onboard.

In 2016, the lab experienced some communication failure and lost contact with its ground-based staff on Earth.

Equipped with two solar panels, the 8.5t lab was designed to have a lifespan of two years.

UAE Space Agency director general Mohammed Nasser Al Ahbabi said: “The Earth witnesses the fall of many objects, including satellites and other debris, on a daily basis.

“These objects do not pose a threat to the planet or its population due to their small size or the speed at which they are vapourised in the Earth’s atmosphere.

“Those that make it through are often scattered over vast areas in the form of very small stones.”

Ahbabi further noted that the UAE is capable of monitoring and determining the coordinates of space objects, meteors and meteorites.

The country launched the UAE Meteor Monitoring and Filming Network in 2016 to support scientific research.

The network is a joint venture between the UAE Space Agency and IAC, and features three different stations distributed throughout the UAE to record astronomical phenomena in the sky.