NASA Administrator Bill Nelson issued a message on Twitter in response to the uncontrolled landing. Nelson states, “The People’s Republic of China did not release detailed trajectory information when its Long March 5B rocket came back to Earth. All spacefaring nations should adhere to established best practices and do their part to share this type of information in advance to allow reliable predictions of potential debris impact risk, particularly for heavy-lift vehicles such as the Long March 5B, which carry a significant risk of loss of life and property.”
Unfortunately, this isn’t the last time an out-of-control rocket will fall on Earth. China intends to launch its third and final module to Tiangong in October using a Long March 5B rocket and will use the rocket again in 2023 to carry a telescope into orbit.
