China says most rocket debris burned up during re-entry over the Indian Ocean

China says the central rocket segment that launched the 22.5-ton core of China’s newest space station into orbit burned up as it re-entered Earth’s atmosphere early on Sunday (Ju Zhenhua/Xinhua News Agency via AP, File)

China’s space agency said a core segment of its biggest rocket re-entered Earth’s atmosphere above the Maldives in the Indian Ocean on Sunday, most of it burning up.

Harvard astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, who tracked the tumbling rocket part, said on Twitter: “An ocean re-entry was always statistically the most likely. It appears China won its gamble … But it was still reckless.”