Rogue Chinese Space Station Re-Enters Earth’s Atmosphere and Burns Up Over South Pacific Ocean

re-entered Earth's atmosphere over South Pacific Ocean at 8:16 p.m. ET

ABOVE VIDEO: A defunct Chinese space lab has re-entered Earth’s atmosphere and mostly burned up, authorities in Beijing said late Sunday.

(FOX NEWS) – A defunct Chinese space lab has re-entered Earth’s atmosphere and mostly burned up, authorities in Beijing said late Sunday.

It was not immediately clear if the remains of the space station, known as Tiangong-1, had been accounted for. Earlier forecasts had said only about 10 percent of the bus-sized, 8.5-ton spacecraft would likely survive re-entry, mainly its heavier components such as its engines.

The U.S. Strategic Command’s Joint Force Space Component Command confirmed that Tiangong-1 re-entered Earth’s atmosphere over the South Pacific Ocean at 8:16 p.m. ET.

Launched in 2011, Tiangong-1 was China’s first space station, serving as an experimental platform for bigger projects, such as the Tiangong-2 launched in September 2016 and a future permanent Chinese space station.

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