The re-entry of Tiangong-1, China's first space lab, could take place as soon as this Sunday, give or take a day, and will not cause any damage to the ground, according to the Chinese military and space authorities on Thursday.
The Tiangong-1, or Heavenly Palace 1, is orbiting at an average height of about 196.4 kilometers, the China Manned Space Engineering Office said on Thursday, and the agency predicts that the space lab with reenter the Earth's atmosphere on April 1, which is on Sunday, give or take a day.
The approximate reentry location cannot be determined until the last two hours before it starts to fall, China's space authorities reiterated on Thursday.
Small amounts of the space lab's fuel will be burned together with other parts, and will not cause damage to objects on Earth, Chinese military sources told the Global Times. And the reentry process will not produce any toxic substances, the sources added.
