Jakarta, IO – The National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) said China’s space debris, CZ5B, was observed passing through southern part of Sumatra and fell in the Indian Ocean, Saturday (30/7) night.
In an official statement on Monday (1/8), BRIN senior researcher Thomas Djamaludin said CZ5B itself is a rocket used to launch the Chinese space station module which weighs about 20 tons and measures 30 meters.
“The orbit is at an altitude of approximately 120 km, a critical height for a space object to fall. It was observed passing through southern Sumatra and West Kalimantan at its final trajectory,” said Thomas.
He explained that based on orbital data from space-track.org, the large space debris fell in the southwest part of Indonesia in the Indian Ocean on Saturday (30/7) at 23:45 WIB. The space debris is not harmful to marine biota in the waters, but there may be fragments that may be scattered along its final trajectory, including in southern Sumatra.