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Most space laboratories were incinerated in the Earth's atmosphere upon their return. And a small amount of space debris fell in a designated area of the South Pacific. Tiangong-2 has been in orbit for more than 1,000 days, which is much longer than its expected two-year life after being launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in September 2016.
During this time, he hosted two astronauts for 30 days and conducted several advanced scientific experiments.
Zhu Zongpeng, chief designer of the space laboratory of the Chinese Academy of Space Technology, Tiangong-2, was in good condition and could have continued to orbit for several more years.
However, the decision was made to desorb the space lab in a "responsible" way, before it became too old.
Zhu told reporters, "The voluntary retirement of Tiangong-2 is intended to eliminate all risks.
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"Otherwise, the reliability of the orbiting space lab will diminish as the extended service expands longer than expected.
"Once certain anomalies occur, the Tiangong-2 will fall uncontrollably into the atmosphere and some parts may not be completely burned, debris falling to the ground, posing a threat to people."
Tiangong-2 has used a two-step strategy for controlled desorption, to ensure that the descent takes place at a specific time and place.
First, the space laboratory was lowered to an elliptical orbit of 200 km.
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And he then descended into an elliptical orbit 70 km before his fiery return to the atmosphere.
The planned orbit output of Tiangong-2 comes after the loss of power of its predecessor, Tiangong-1, in April 2018, which resulted in an uncontrolled forced landing.
Tiangong-1 was originally scheduled to be decommissioned in 2013, but its mission was extended several times until China lost communication with the spacecraft.
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Fortunately, debris from the convicted spacecraft, traveling at 17,000 km / h, fell into the ocean, avoiding any losses.
China is now preparing to launch its third temporary orbital laboratory, Tiangong-3, which will test key technologies.
The country's ultimate goal is to launch a "real" space station in 2020, which will enable China to play a greater role in satellite space exploration, human space flight and space control.
