China discounts possibility of harm from falling rocket

China says the upper stage of its Long March 5B carrier rocket that launched the core module of its space station will mostly burn up on re-entry, posing little threat to people and property on Earth

BEIJING -- China says the upper stage of its Long March 5B rocket that launched the core module of its space station will mostly burn up on re-entry, posing little threat to people and property on the ground. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbing said Chinese authorities will release information about the -re-entry of the rocket, expected over the weekend, in a “timely manner.” Wang said China “pays great attention to the re-entry of the upper stage of the rocket into the atmosphere." “As far as I understand, this type of rocket adopts a special technical design, and the vast majority of the devices will be burnt up and destructed during the re-entry process, which has a very low probability of causing harm to aviation activities and the ground," Wang said at a regularly scheduled briefing.