China has announced it is now keeping tabs on a falling rocket which could shower Earth in huge metal fragments.
The Long March 5B rocket, which launched a space station module on Sunday, sparked panic earlier this week it was revealed to be falling back to Earth.
Astronomer Jonathan McDowell previously said it is impossible to predict 'when or where' the rocket will strike, and that 'a bunch of 30-metre long metal fragments will end up crashing into the ground' at hundreds of miles per hour.
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However, a spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry has claimed that it will provide 'timely' information on the rocket's movements.
Zhao Lijian of the Chinese Foreign Ministry said it is an international practice to allow rocket stages to burn up as they re-enter Earth's atmosphere.
They added that their rocket has a 'special' design which means it will be mostly destroyed during reentry, with 'low' risk to planes and people on the ground.
However, astronomer Jonathan McDowell told Gizmodo: "Such a large rocket stage should not be left in orbit to make an uncontrolled reentry; the risk to the public is not huge, but it is larger than I am comfortable with."
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While most traditional rockets are allowed to break up and fall to Earth, more and more space companies are working on reusable rockets.
In New Zealand, one firm has developed a technique for catching falling rockets with a helicopter so that they can be recycled for future use.
Meanwhile, both SpaceX and Blue Origin (the private space toys of Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, respectively) utilise reusable rocket boosters which are able to take off and land vertically so they can be deployed on future launches.
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