China's manned space lab to re-enter atmosphere on Friday

[July 13, 2019]    BEIJING (Reuters) - China's manned space lab Tiangong-2 has finished experiments and will re-enter Earth's atmosphere on July 19, authorities said on Saturday.

A model of Tiangong 2 space laboratory by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation is displayed at China Beijing International High-tech Expo in Beijing, China June 8, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee

A small amount of debris is likely to fall into the designated safe waters of the South Pacific Ocean, the China Manned Space Engineering Office said in a statement.

China launched Tiangong-2 on September 15, 2016, after Tiangong-1, its first manned space lab.

(Reporting by Yilei Sun and Norihiko Shirouzu in Beijing; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.