最新更新，上午12:36:根据太空轨道的最新消息，火箭已经重返地球大气层，坠入位于马尔代夫以北、北纬22.2度、东经50.0度的印度洋。

最新更新，晚上11:45:根据美国太空司令部的说法，火箭已经重返地球大气层，该司令部一直通过太空轨道提供最新信息。

太空司令部表示，他们相信火箭溅落在印度洋，但正在等待18太空控制中队的正式确认。

官方中国与此同时，航天科技公司，微博上说它于美国东部时间下午10时24分重返地球大气层，并提供了坐标:东经72.47度，北纬2.65度。这些坐标将把它放在北印度洋，靠近马尔代夫。

它说，大多数火箭碎片在再入过程中被“烧蚀和摧毁”。

更新，晚上8:24:再入窗口已移至美国东部时间晚上9:11到11:11之间。周六，预计降落在地中海盆地。

更新，下午5:03美国太空部队的最新数据将火箭体的再入窗口缩小到只有两个小时:美国东部时间晚上9点到11点。

计算机预测显示，如果碎片在美国东部时间周六晚上10:04准确地重返大气层，它可能会在北大西洋上空，尽管位置每分钟都在变化。

直到火箭体已经着陆后，太空部队才知道精确的着陆位置，根据太空轨道。

原创故事:

对何时何地的预测中国火箭碎片冲向地球预计土地面积正在缩小。

该部分是中国长征5B火箭的一部分，该火箭上周将中国第一个永久空间站的一个模块发射到轨道上。

官员们已经跟踪火箭体不受控制地返回地球几天了，估计它何时可能重返大气层。

根据美国空间部队的最新数据，火箭体的再入预计在美国东部时间下午7:30至凌晨1:30之间。

美国太空部队已经计划了四种可能的再入轨道——三种在水上，一种在陆地上。

潜在的陆地着陆可能会发生变化，但目前包括美国东南部、墨西哥、中美洲、加勒比海、秘鲁、厄瓜多尔、哥伦比亚、委内瑞拉、南欧部分地区、北非和中非大部分地区、中东、印度南部和澳大利亚。

由于火箭部分以每小时18000英里的速度移动，专家们要到几个小时后才能估计出再入位置。

人们可以按照最新的再入时间估计太空轨道该公司正与美国太空部队合作追踪碎片。

根据为各种政府、民用和商业客户进行技术分析和评估的非营利组织航空航天公司的数据，这种巨大的火箭体长98英尺，宽16.5英尺，重21公吨。

谢家伟/VCG通过盖蒂图像，文件

长征-5B Y2火箭携带中国空间站的核心模块天河，爆炸的

该公司表示，空火箭体在发射过程中没有下降，而是达到了轨道速度，这使它“处于绕地球的椭圆轨道上，在那里它被拖向不受控制的再入大气层”在一篇博文中解释道

Chinese rocket updates: Debris splashes down in Indian Ocean

Latest update, 12:36 a.m.: The rocket has reentered Earth's atmosphere and fell into the Indian ocean north of the Maldives at latitude 22.2, longitude 50.0, according to an update from Space-Track.

Latest update, 11:45 p.m.: The rocket has reentered Earth's atmosphere, according to U.S. Space Command, which has been providing updates via Space-Track.

The Space Command said it believes the rocket splashed down in the Indian Ocean, but was waiting for official confirmation from 18 Space Control Squadron.

The officialChinaAerospace Science and Technology Corporation, meanwhile,said on Weiboit had reentered the Earth's atmosphere at 10:24 p.m. ET and provided coordinates: around 72.47° east longitude and 2.65° north latitude. Those coordinates would put it in the northern Indian Ocean, near the Maldives.

It said most of the rocket debris was "ablated and destroyed" during reentry.

Update, 8:24 p.m.: The reentry window has shifted to between 9:11 and 11:11 p.m. ET. Saturday, with the projected landing now in the Mediterranean Basin.

Update, 5:03 p.m.The latest data from the U.S. Space Force has narrowed the reentry window for the rocket body to just two hours: 9 to 11 p.m. ET.

Computer projections show that if the debris were to reenter the atmosphere at exactly 10:04 p.m. ET on Saturday, it likely would be over the northern Atlantic Ocean, though the location varies minute to minute.

Space Force won't know the precise landing location until after the rocket body has already landed,according to Space Track.

Original story:

Predictions for when and whereChinese rocket debris hurtling toward Earthis expected to land are narrowing.

The section is part of a rocket called Chinese Long March 5B, which launched a module of the country's first permanent space station into orbit last week.

Officials have been tracking the rocket body's uncontrolled return to Earth for several days now, estimating when it might reenter the atmosphere.

The rocket body's reentry is currently projected at anywhere between 7:30 p.m. ET and 1:30 a.m. ET, according to the latest U.S. Space Force data.

The U.S. Space Force has projected four possible orbits for reentry in play -- three over water, one over land.

Potential landings over land are subject to change, but currently include the Southeastern U.S., Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, parts of Southern Europe, much of Northern and Central Africa, the Middle East, Southern India and Australia.

Since the rocket section is moving at 18,000 mph, experts won't be able to estimate a reentry location until a few hours before it happens.

People can follow the latest reentry time estimates atSpace Track, which is working with the U.S. Space Force on tracking the debris.

The massive rocket body measures 98 feet long and 16.5 feet wide and weighs 21 metric tons, according to the Aerospace Corporation, a nonprofit that performs technical analyses and assessments for a variety of government, civil and commercial customers.

Instead of falling downrange during the launch, the empty rocket body reached orbital velocity, which placed it "in an elliptical orbit around Earth where it is being dragged toward an uncontrolled reentry," the corporationexplained in a blog post.