Rocket’s return holds up flights

A ROCKET used to build the Chinese space station has hurtled back to Earth – disrupting flights for holidaymakers in France and Spain.

The booster, which weighs up to 23 tons and is roughly the size of a ten- storey building, came down in the Pacific just after 10am yesterday. Experts said debris could reach the coast of Mexico.

But initial projections for the trajectory of the rocket, called Long March 5B, led to restrictions over French and Spanish airspace. This rerouted a small number of flights in the UK, causing delays.

China has been criticised for the uncontrolled re-entries of its Long March rockets in 2020, 2021 and this July. The Aerospace Corporation, an independent research group, said the rockets, used to transport modules to the Tiangong Space Station, present a ‘level of risk to human safety and property damage that is well above commonly accepted thresholds’.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman insisted its actions were ‘in accordance with international law and international practice – re-entry of the last stage of a rocket is an international practice’.