Spain momentarily blocked the airspace over Catalonia’s northeastern region and three other provinces on November 4 because fragments of a Chinese rocket were due to pass overhead, emergency authorities in Catalonia said.
[bs-quote quote=”The statistical probability of an impact on the ground in populated areas is low…These predictions however come with uncertainties, and a better estimation will only be possible close to the re-entry” style=”default” align=”left” color=”” author_name=”European Union Space Surveillance and Tracking” author_job=”” author_avatar=”” author_link=””][/bs-quote]
“Due to the risk associated with the passage of the space object CZ-5B through the Spanish airspace, flights have been restricted from 09:38 a.m. to 10:18 a.m. in Catalonia and other communities,” the service announced on Twitter. The Long March 5 B (CZ-5B), China’s most powerful rocket, lifted off from southern China on October 31 to transport the final module of the Chinese space station, which is currently under construction.
The majority of the rocket is likely to burn up on re-entry when gravity drags it back to Earth, though there are concerns that significant portions may survive.
The European Union Space Surveillance and Tracking service predicted that the debris would most likely re-enter Earth’s atmosphere in the middle of the Atlantic and land in the sea. Still, it also warned that northern Spain, Portugal, and southern Italy were all within the rocket’s potential trajectory.
On its initial launch, parts of the rocket landed on the Ivory Coast, destroying several structures in that West African country but causing no injuries.
When asked if China had taken precautions to lessen the dangers, Zhao Lijian, a spokeswoman for the Chinese foreign ministry, said during a regular briefing on Friday that the rocket’s re-entry into the atmosphere is a customary international practice. Ha added that It is thought that the rocket employs special technology designed to ensure that the vast majority of components are destroyed by ablation upon re-entry into the atmosphere. The likelihood of causing harm to aviation activities and the ground is extremely minimal.