China's Tiangong-2 space lab makes controlled re-entry into Earth's atmosphere

Tiangong-1, or "Heavenly Palace", was placed into orbit in September 2011, acting as a testing ground for China's efforts to put a permanent space station into orbit around 2022. PHOTO: AFP

BEIJING (XINHUA) - China's Tiangong-2 space lab re-entered the earth's atmosphere under control at around 9.06pm on Friday (July 19), China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said.

A small amount of the spacecraft's debris fell into a pre-determined safe sea area in the South Pacific, according to the agency.

Tiangong-2's controlled re-entry into the atmosphere marks the successful completion of all the tasks in the space lab phase of China's manned space programme, said Mr Zhou Jianping, chief designer of China's manned space programme.

Efforts are being made to step up preparations for constructing China's space station, CMSA said.

Tiangong-2, an improved version of Tiangong-1, was considered China's first space lab.

Launched on Sept 15, 2016, the space lab was in orbit over 1,000 days, much longer than its two-year designed lifespan.

Comprising an experiment module and a resource module, the space lab had a total length of 10.4 metres, a maximum diameter of 3.35 metres and a takeoff weight of 8.6 tonnes.

After its solar panels were unfolded, its wingspan reached 18.4 metres.

During its time in space, Tiangong-2 had docked with the Shenzhou-11 manned spaceship and Tianzhou-1 cargo spacecraft.

Chinese astronauts Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong stayed for a period of 30 days in the space lab.

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