China says its first unmanned laboratory, Tiangong-1, will fall back to Earth in a controlled manner in the first half of the year and is not a safety risk.
In an interview to the Science and Technology Daily newspaper, Zhu Zongpeng, a senior scientist with the China Academy of Space Technology, said the space station is being continuously monitored.
He added the space lab was not crashing and parts of it will burn up while re-entering the atmosphere while the rest of the wreckage will fall in a designated area in the Pacific Ocean.
Zongpeng's statements came in response to recent media reports that the spacecraft was out-of-control and would crash-land on Earth.
In May, Chinese space authorities had told the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space that the Tiangong-1 was being continuously monitored.
"According to the calculations and analysis that have been carried out, most of the structural components of Tiangong-I will be destroyed as they burn up during the course of re-entry," read the document, adding that "the probability of endangering and causing damage to aviation and ground activities is very low."
According to latest information by China's Manned Space Agency, the space lab orbited at an average height of 286.5km between December 17-24, which indicates it is "in stable condition without any abnormalities."
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