EU SST confirms re-entry of

space object CZ-5B R/B

EU Space Surveillance and Tracking (EU SST) has

been monitoring the re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere
of large space object CZ-5B R/B (2021-035B), the
core stage of the rocket that launched Tianhe – the
first module of the Chinese large modular space
station – on 29 April 2021. The EU SST network of
sensors observed the object closely, and its radars
narrowed down its re-entry window to 9 May.

Latest update: 2021-05-09 06:00 UTC+2

Based on the last pass over Europe and external

information, EU SST confirms that object CZ-5B R/B
re-entered on 2021-05-09 at 02:32 UTC ±25 min.

Last prediction before re-entry : 2021-05-08 20:30

UTC+2

Data from EU SST radars SATAM-R3, S3TSR, BIRALES

and MFDR-LR confirmed that the object is tumbling.
The below figures show the Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR)
during the pass observed by the last two radars, with
visible peaks every 2.5 and 4.5 seconds respectively,
which suggests a fairly fast rotation. Due to its
inclination (41.48 degrees), the object can re-enter
within the latitude band ±41.48. In this region, most part
of the Earth surface is covered by ocean or uninhabited
areas, so the statistical probability of an impact on the
ground in populated areas is low. These predictions
however come with uncertainties as the object is
uncontrolled, and a better estimation will only be
possible a few hours before the actual re-entry.

Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR): the ratio of the signal

power to the noise power detected by radar BIRALES
during one pass, with periodicity of the peaks visible
about every 2.5 seconds

Doppler variations with a period of 4.5 seconds

detected by radar MFDR-LR during the pass, which
help infer the rotation of the object

The below figure shows the ground track for the re-
entry window. The current window of 2021-05-09 02:32
UTC ±139 minutes will keep narrowing down and
discarding some of the ground track passes.

Map of the whole ground track

Object CZ-5B R/B has an estimated mass ranging from

17 to 22 tonnes and a size of about 30 m, which makes it
one of the largest pieces of debris re-entering in the
near past and therefore it deserves careful monitoring.
EU SST sensors will continue observing the object and
Operations Centres will keep performing analyses to
produce the best possible estimation for the expected
re-entry location and time.

Object CZ-5B R/B observation captured by telescope

AROAC-T08

Note: this article will be updated with the latest

information provided by EU SST’s Operations Centres.

The EU SST activities have received funding

from the European Union programmes,
notably from the Horizon 2020 research and
innovation programme under grant
agreements No 760459, No 952852, No
785257, No 713630 and No 713762, and the
Copernicus and Galileo programme under
grant agreements No
299/G/GRO/COPE/19/11109, No
237/G/GRO/COPE/16/8935 and No
203/G/GRO/COPE/15/7987. The content of
this website reflects only the view of the SST
Cooperation. The European Commission and
the Research Executive Agency are not
responsible for any use that may be made of
the information it contains.

Email: contactus@eusst.eu

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