Again!! Chinese rocket predicted to make uncontrolled re-entry

The Mengtian space station module's huge first stage of the Long March 5B rocket, which sent it into orbit earlier this week, is scheduled to make an uncontrolled return on Friday.

Oct. 31 saw the launch of China's third and last module for its Tiangong space station. Thirteen hours later, the Mengtian module successfully docked with the station.

The nearly 21-metric-ton dry mass Long March 5B first stage also serves as the mission's upper stage and achieved orbit, which is rare in international spaceflight. This is similar to China's prior space station module launches.

Also unable to reignite its engines for a controlled descent into the atmosphere is the Long March 5B first stage.

Analysis by the Aerospace Corporation’s Center for Orbital and Reentry Debris Studies (CORDS) gives a latest predicted reentry time of 1:56 p.m. Eastern (17:56 UTC) Nov. 4, with a window of uncertainty of six hours either side.

The center of the window would see a reentry over the Gulf of Mexico, but the rocket stage is traveling at nearly eight kilometers per second, meaning a deviation of even a few minutes means a reentry more than a thousand kilometers away.

The latest prediction from the U.S. Space Force’s 18th Space Defense Squadron predicts a reentry at 8:16 a.m. (12:16 UTC) plus or minus five hours.

Source : https://spacenews.com/rocket-from-chinese-space-station-module-launch-predicted-to-uncontrolled-reentry-nov-4/