CZ-5B Rocket Body (ID 48275)

[atakacs]

I might be missing something but was is all the excitement about this reentry ?

I'm pretty sure the Long March rocket first stage attaining orbital insertion was not accidental and although not frequent it is not such a rare event. Is there something really out of the ordinary about it ?

[wiggy]

I stand to be corrected but I think a Long March Core/First stage making it all the way to orbit is pretty rare.

The grumbles are that (?) UN guidelines state that there should be an active de-orbit plan/method for anything placed into Low Earth Orbit with a mass of 10 tonnes or more. The item in question weighs in at over 20 tonnes and those who launched it seem to have made no such provision.

Better hope it ends up in the Ocean.;we will soon know.

[jolihokistix]

10 more to come in this series, so we'd better get used to it.

[ORAC]

I'm pretty sure the Long March rocket first stage attaining orbital insertion was not accidental
The Long March 5B has no second or third stage and the first stage is non-restartable. Therefore it will inevitably end up in orbit with its payload.

The 5B is powered by 10 engines; two YF-77 LH2/LOX on the core plus two YF-100 staged-combustion engines on each of four kerosene/LOX strap-on boosters. The boosters separate 173 seconds after liftoff. The core stage burns all the way to orbit.

(The baseline version carries a restartable hypergolic upper stage, with two YF-75 restartable engines, weighing 12 tons which is omitted on the 5B to maximise the payload which can be carried to LEO. ).

[atakacs]

Thanks for for all those interresting contributions - I now have a better undestanding of the issue.
I wonder if the Chinese wil add some desorbitng control system in further launches as they seem to be on track to use this launch vehicule quite often in the future.

[atakacs]

Would seem we are in for round 2

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202105/1224808.shtml

[wiggy]

Would seem we are in for round 2

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202105/1224808.shtml

As I understand it that latest launch was a Long March 7, not sure how much upper stage you end up with in orbit vs. the Long March 5.

[atakacs]

As I understand it that latest launch was a Long March 7, not sure how much upper stage you end up with in orbit vs. the Long March 5.
Good point - didn't realise

I guess we shall see…

[ORAC]

All the resupply and crew transfer missions will be flown using LM 7 launchers.

There are two further Long March 5B launches planned in 2022 to send two experiment modules, named Wentian and Mengtian, to join the Tianhe space station core in orbit.

[Jacob87]

Well, waiting for the next rocket debris in 2022:)

[ORAC]

https://spaceflightnow.com/2022/07/18/chinas-heavy-lift-long-march-5b-rocket-rolls-to-launch-pad-with-new-space-station-module/

China’s heavy-lift Long March 5B rocket rolls out with new space station module

China moved a heavy-lift Long March 5B rocket to its launch pad Monday in preparation for liftoff this weekend with a 22-ton module for the country’s Tiangong space station, a mission that could end with another uncontrolled re-entry of the Long March 5B’s large core stage.

The powerful launcher rolled from its assembly building to the launch pad Monday at the Wenchang launch center on Hainan Island in southern China. The Wentian module for China’s space station is encapsulated inside the rocket’s payload fairing.

The Long March 5B rocket is set for launch around 2:20 a.m. EDT (0620 GMT) Sunday, July 24, according to airspace warning notices associated with the mission. That’s also the approximate time the Tiangong space station’s orbital plane passes over the Wenchang launch center.

The Wentian module, with a launch weight near 44,000 pounds (20 metric tons), will dock with the Tianhe core module on China’s Tiangong station in low Earth orbit. Chinese astronauts Chen Dong, Liu Yang, and Cai Xuzhe living on the Tiangong complex will monitor Wentian’s arrival, then become the first crew members to float into the station’s new module.

The launch this weekend will add the second of three large pressurized modules needed to complete the initial construction of the Tiangong space station. The Tianhe core module launched on a Long March 5B rocket in April 2021, and Chinese ground teams are preparing the Mengtian module for launch on a Long March 5B rocket in October.….

[ORAC]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/02/chinese-china-rocket-re-entry-suspected-space-debris-lands-malaysia-indonesia

Chinese rocket re-entry: suspected debris lands in Malaysia and Indonesia

[ORAC]

Next module launch on a 5B planned for Monday…

Oct. 31: Long March 5B | Mengtian space station module | Wenchang Satellite Launch Center, China | 07:35 UTC

[PEI_3721]

https://ad.easa.europa.eu/blob/SIB_2022-09.pdf/SIB_2022-09_1

Object CZ‐5B has an estimated mass ranging between 17 and 23 tons, which makes it one of the largest pieces of debris re‐entering the atmosphere in recent years.

The EU SST experts have estimated that the debris generated by the aforementioned object will likely re‐enter Earth’s atmosphere in an uncontrolled manner on 04 November 2022.

As this is an uncontrolled re‐entry, it is difficult at this point in time to exactly predict the trajectory of the debris and where the parts will fall. A detailed prediction could be available only a few hours before the impact.

The current EU SST forecast for impact is within the following time window:

Window Start (UTC): 04.11.2022 08:03:02.433000Z UTC

Window End (UTC): 04.11.2022 18:37:02.433000Z UTC

[TURIN]

It has apparently come down in the Pacific West of Mexico.

https://youtu.be/zhMLYcka1jQ