The Pentagon said Wednesday (May 5, 2021) that U.S. Defense Secretary John Austin is keeping up to date on the return of the Chinese Long March 5B rocket wreckage to the ground, but did not say what steps the Defense Department is taking to protect against the possible threat posed by the runaway Chinese rocket wreckage.
A day earlier, U.S. Space Command said in response to media inquiries that it was keeping track of and reporting to the public the location of the wreckage of the Chinese Long March 5B rocket, which is expected to return to Earth around May 8, but it is not possible to determine where it will fall to Earth.
Space Command says all space-launched debris poses a potential threat to human space flight.
Pentagon spokesman Kirby was asked at a press conference Wednesday whether the Defense Department was prepared to intercept and fragment the wreckage of the Chinese rocket if necessary to mitigate the threat it could pose. He replied, “I think it’s too early to find out what we can do until we have a better idea of where the rocket is coming down to the ground. So I don’t want to speculate on what actions the Defense Department may or may not take.”
Kirby also said the U.S. military is tracking the movement of the Chinese rocket and is following it as closely as it can.
The Chinese Long March 5B rocket lifted the Tiangong space station’s Tianhe main module into the sky last week, sending it into its intended orbit before separating from it and removing it from the control of ground personnel.
It is believed to be one of the largest space vehicles in the history of human space exploration to return to Earth but lose control and possibly crash into a human-inhabited site.
The Space News website said the 5B rocket wreckage could crash into the ground as far north as New York, Madrid or Beijing, and as far south as Wellington, New Zealand.
A Chinese launch of a Long March rocket series in May 2020 caused wreckage to crash into a number of villages in Ivory Coast and damaged some buildings, but failed to cause any injuries.
China plans to conduct frequent space launches over the next two years in an effort to establish a space station.
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