VIDEO shows fiery descent of Chinese space station from orbit

Published time: 19 Jul, 2019

A screenshot taken from a video showing the Chinese Tiangong-2 space station's descent from orbit, which was published by the CGTN on YouTube.

Rare footage released by the Chinese media has shown space lab Tiangong-2 going down in flames as the station re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere as part of its controlled demolition.

The video, published on YouTube by China’s Global TV Network (CGTN), shows part of the station’s hull with what looks like a communication dish during the fiery descent. At some point, flashes of flames can be seen in the background and the hull becomes engulfed in the bright glow of plasma.

The 8-ton, ten-meter-long station was used by the Chinese Space Agency as a test bed for orbital technologies, including docking and refueling. Launched in 2016, it hosted a one month-long manned mission later the same year.

The space lab re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere on Friday around 21:06 Beijing time (13:06 GMT). It almost completely burned up in the atmosphere while the small amount of remaining debris fell to a “safe area” in the South Pacific, according to Chinese officials.

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The decommissioned station is expected to be replaced by a large modular space lab. Its first module is scheduled to be launched into orbit in 2020.