Chinese rocket debris
The Long March 5B rocket flying as seen by observers. Credit: Alpha via Flickr.

The debris from China’s Long March-5B Y2 carrier rocket has crashed landed in the Indian Ocean near the Maldives.

China Manned Space Engineering Office provided the coordinates of the debris’ point of impact and its re-entry time into the Earth’s atmosphere.

The agency said that most of the device was burned up during the re-entry.

US Space Command also confirmed that the Chinese Long March 5B re-entered over the Arabian Peninsula on 8 May at around 10:15pm EDT.

The landing put an end to weeks of speculation and anxiety as to the device’s exact entry point into the Earth’s atmosphere, where its remnants would fall, and the threat to populated land.

The 108ft-tall, 40,000lb rocket launched the trial version of China’s new-generation manned spaceship from the Wenchang Space Launch Centre on 29 April.

Following this, the rocket’s core booster stage deorbited and set on an uncontrolled re-entry journey into the Earth atmosphere, travelling at 18,000mph.

No injuries or damage have been reported so far.

The incident has drawn significant criticism from Nasa and other space communities over the lack of transparency.

Nasa administrator Bill Nelson said: “Spacefaring nations must minimise the risks to people and property on Earth of re-entries of space objects and maximise transparency regarding those operations.

“It is clear that China is failing to meet responsible standards regarding their space debris.

“It is critical that China and all spacefaring nations and commercial entities act responsibly and transparently in space to ensure the safety, stability, security, and long-term sustainability of outer space activities.”