Tianzhou 4 cargo spacecraft reenters atmosphere

The Tianzhou 4 cargo spacecraft destroyed itself during atmospheric reentry on Tuesday morning, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

The agency said in a news release that, under ground controllers' guidance, the robotic craft flew back into the atmosphere at 7:21 am. After that, most of the spaceship burned up, and a small amount of debris fell into secure areas in the South Pacific Ocean.

Launched on May 10 from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province, Tianzhou 4 docked with Tiangong in a low-Earth orbit of around 400 kilometers later that day.

Tianzhou 4 was the third cargo ship to have linked with the Tiangong space station, following the Tianzhou 2 and 3.

Carrying nearly 6 metric tons of propellants and materials, including more than 200 packages, the craft was tasked with supporting the Shenzhou XIV mission, during which a three-member crew is scheduled to stay six months inside the Tiangong station.

By now, the Shenzhou XIV crew has spent more than five months on board the space station.

Tianzhou 4 departed from the Tiangong station on Wednesday and then conducted some space technology tests before falling back to Earth, the manned space agency said.

With a designed life of more than a year, each Tianzhou cargo ship has two parts -- a cargo cabin and a propulsion section. Such vehicles are 10.6 meters long and 3.35 meters wide.

The cargo vehicle model has a lift-off weight of 13.5 tons, and can transport up to 6.9 tons of supplies to the space station.