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Politics

Demise of Tiangong-1 shows risks of China's go-it-alone space policy

Burn-up over South Pacific suggests authorities were not in control of re-entry

China's Tiangong-1 space station. (Courtesy of the China Manned Space Engineering Office)

BEIJING -- China's lack of transparency over the loss of its space station raises serious questions about the one-party state's ambition to pursue its own development to become a significant space power.

The Tiangong-1 spacecraft made its re-entry into Earth's atmosphere early Monday and burned up over the South Pacific, according to China's Manned Space Engineering Office. Hong Kong media reported that some debris splash-landed in waters off the coast of Chile.

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