MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Space Agency (PhilSa) has urged aircraft and vessel operators to take “precautionary measures” as debris from a Chinese rocket to be launched past noon on Thursday, December 29, was projected to fall in the vicinity of Recto Bank in the West Philippine Sea.

In an advisory issued Tuesday morning, PhilSa said unburned debris such as rocket boosters and payload firing was expected to fall “within a drop zone area located within the vicinity of Recto bank, approximately 137 kilometers from Ayungin Shoal and 200 kilometers from Quezon, Palawan.”

PhilSa – citing a notice issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) to the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) – had put out a notice on the estimated drop zone for debris after it confirmed details on the planned launch of the Long March 3B rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Xichang, Sichuan Province, China.

The agency said the launch was scheduled to take place between 12:33 pm and 01:10 pm, Philippine time, on Thursday.

“While not projected to fall on land features or inhabited areas within the Philippine territory, falling debris poses danger and potential risk to ships, aircraft, fishing boats, and other vessels that will pass through the drop zone,” PhilSa said.

While projections on where debris may fall were made, the agency also warned that the actual drop zone area could still change due to climate conditions, the weather, and the earth’s rotation. Debris may also float around waters and wash toward nearby coasts, PhilSa said.

“Furthermore, the possibility of an uncontrolled re-entry to the atmosphere of the rocket’s upper stages returning from outer space cannot be ruled out at this time,” it added.

The agency reiterated its call to the public to inform local authorities if they spot suspected debris, and to refrain from retrieving or coming into close contact with rocket remnants which could contain toxic substances like rocket fuel.

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