Debris from Long March 5B crash into sea amid criticism

A Chinese booster rocket made an uncontrolled return to Earth yesterday, leading US officials to chide Beijing for not sharing information about the potentially hazardous object's descent.

US Space Command confirmed on its Twitter account that the Long March 5B had re-entered over the Indian Ocean.

Most of the final stage of the rocket burned up after entering the atmosphere at 12.55am, the China Manned Space Agency reported.

It gave coordinates on the official WeChat profile for an impact area in the Sulu Sea, about 57 kilometers off the east coast of the Philippines' Palawan Island.

The booster rocket was used last week to launch the second of three modules China needed to complete its new Tiangong space station.

Malaysia's space agency said it detected rocket debris burning up on re-entry, which crossed Malaysian airspace before falling in the Sulu Sea northeast of Borneo.

NASA administrator Bill Nelson criticized Beijing on Twitter, saying the failure to share details of the rocket's descent was irresponsible and risky.

"All spacefaring nations should follow established best practices, and do their part to share this type of information in advance," Nelson wrote, "to allow reliable predictions of potential debris impact risk, especially for heavy-lift vehicles, like the Long March 5B, which carry a significant risk of loss of life and property."