The Chinese space lab Tiangong-2, part of a program to build a permanent station in the cosmos, will leave its orbit under manual control in July next year.
Tiangong-2 has fulfilled all its planned missions within its designed two-year life span, the deputy director of the China Manned Space Engineering Office Lin Xiqiang said at a press conference on Wednesday, adding that the device will be taken out of orbit in a manually controlled manner.
The announcement came almost six months after its predecessor Tiangong-1 raised concerns among space experts around the world over fears that upon deorbiting it might crash in inhabited areas.
Despite these concerns, it entered earth's atmosphere on April 2 and disintegrated almost completely when it flew over the southern Pacific Ocean after almost two years of unmanned orbiting.
The Tiangong-2, with more advanced functions, was sent into orbit on September 15, 2016, and according to its management has carried out 14 research projects in space.
The Tiangong program seeks the establishment of a permanent Chinese space station, and its next phase will be the launch by 2020-2022 of a third module to orbit for at least a decade.
