But they could still threaten inhabited areas. Most of the planet is ocean, so that's where falling rocket bits are most likely to land. When it falls out of orbit, it may burn up in Earth's atmosphere, but large chunks of debris could survive the fall. The rocket stage measures about 100 feet long and 16 feet wide, according to Jones. "Since 1990 nothing over 10 tons has been deliberately left in orbit to reenter uncontrolled." "I think by current standards it's unacceptable to let it reenter uncontrolled," Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer who tracks objects orbiting Earth, told Jones. The rocket body is likely to fall back to Earth sometime in the next few days, journalist Andrew Jones, who covers China's space program, reported for SpaceNews. Instead of falling into a pre-designated spot in the ocean, as is common for discarded rockets, the Long March 5b's core stage started circling the planet, uncontrolled. On Wednesday, China launched the first module of a new space station the country is building. The roughly 21-ton object is the core stage of China's Long March 5b rocket. An enormous rocket body is shooting around the planet out of control, and it could fall back to Earth within the next few days.
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