The Space Station That Fell from the Sky
In 2016, China lost control of its first space station. For two years, the world watched it sink lower, and no one knew where it would come down.
What was reported
Tiangong-1, China's first space station, was launched in 2011 and visited by astronauts, including China's first female astronauts. In 2016, Chinese authorities confirmed they had lost the ability to control it, and its orbit began slowly decaying.
As the 8.5-tonne station sank, trackers around the world tried to predict where its remains would fall. Maps showed a huge band of possible landing zones covering much of the populated world, and newspapers ran stories about the risk.
Explanations offered
On 2 April 2018, Tiangong-1 re-entered the atmosphere over the South Pacific, northwest of Tahiti, and almost entirely burned up. The chance of anyone being hit was always tiny. The case showed how hard it is to predict where uncontrolled spacecraft will fall.
- When
- 2016 to 2 April 2018
- Where
- In orbit, falling over the South Pacific
- Witnesses
- Space agencies and trackers around the world
- Status
- Explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.