On 19 July, the Chinese orbital station Tiangong-2 was deorbited and got burnt in dense layers of the atmosphere over the South Pacific Ocean, between New Zealand and Chile. The message about the event was posted on the Chinese Space Agency website.
The reentry was controlled although some small fragments of the station fell into the ocean. The 8.6-tons space laboratory was launch in September 2016, and it completed four successful dockings with a cargo spaceship Tianzhou-1 and Shenzhou-11 manned spacecraft. During the orbital flights, two astronauts were working onboard for 30 days to execute testings for the future development of the Chinese multi-module orbital station. Also, there were done several experiments and scientific breakthroughs about life support technologies. The laboratory was supplied with various equipment for the on-orbit medical examinations. Together with other docked spacecrafts, Tiangong-2 was completing the mission more like a thousand days in spite of supposed two years.
Before the scheduled deorbit about a year ago, the station launched its engines to reduce speed and adjust the trajectory. Soon it entered the atmosphere, where most of its fragments burned.
Recall, in early June, the Chinese Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) for the first time in the history of China launched a rocket vehicle from a naval platform. During the launch, the strong-fuel four-stage Changzheng-11 rocket was tossed over the platform and then turned on its engine. The mission was successful, with seven satellites (two experimental and five commercial vehicles) into orbit. In the future, CASC plans to conduct similar launches off the coast of countries located near the equator, and also intend to adapt the platform for launches of missiles with liquid engines.
