The second stage of the Chinese rocket launched into space will return to Earth's atmosphere on Friday and is expected to fall in Latvia; however, Lithuania is ready to respond in case the forecasts change, says the CEO of Oro navigacija, Saulius Batavičius.
"We will monitor the situation, air traffic controllers are coordinating this process. So far, we have information that the forecast for the object's landing site has changed slightly: it is now predicted to be in Latvia, whereas before it was Lithuania," said Batavičius to the M-1 news service.
According to him, the rocket fragment is expected to fall around 11:00, but the information is constantly being updated.
"We are informed and ready to respond if anything changes: to restrict traffic, to direct aircraft on different routes," noted the head of Oro navigacija.
He added that it is difficult to say which part of the Chinese rocket will burn up and break apart in the atmosphere.
The European Union's space observation and tracking centers confirmed that they are actively monitoring the Zhuque-3 rocket from a private Chinese company, launched in early December. Air traffic controllers have been provided with recommendations for possible route changes.
Warnings have been issued that the object, which is 13 meters long and weighs 11 tons, due to its large size, will not completely burn up in the atmosphere and poses a potential danger to the southern regions of Denmark and the Baltic states; however, it could also fall into the sea.
Due to the significant dimensions and mass of the object, experts warn of a potential threat, as well as a danger to air traffic in the area of possible impact.
According to EU space observers, the object is expected to fall around 10:32, but there is a possible margin of error of three hours.
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