--- title: Chinese Space Station Tiangong-1 to Hit Earth Within 24 Hours description: The Chinese space station Tiangong-1 is expected to fall into the Earth's atmosphere sometime Sunday evening or Monday morning. canonical: https://time.com/5223830/china-tiangong-1-falling-to-earth/ author: Jennifer Calfas article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-04-01T14:14:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T19:50:28.750Z article:section: Science og:title: Chinese Space Lab Tiangong-1 Is Expected to Fall to Earth in the Next 24 Hours og:description: The chance of someone getting hit is low og:url: https://time.com/5223830/china-tiangong-1-falling-to-earth/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb3b7e271d2193a82/69892c3e8fd2ee1acf35b2aa/tiangong-1-chinese-space-station.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5616 og:image:height: 3159 og:image:alt: Tiangong 1 Chinese Space Station og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Chinese Space Lab Tiangong-1 Is Expected to Fall to Earth in the Next 24 Hours twitter:description: The chance of someone getting hit is low twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb3b7e271d2193a82/69892c3e8fd2ee1acf35b2aa/tiangong-1-chinese-space-station.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Chinese Space Lab Tiangong-1 Is Expected to Fall to Earth in the Next 24 Hours > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Future Proof: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Future Proof is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Making sense of the climate and energy economy. Future Proof examines the forces transforming energy and climate, and what those changes mean for business, technology, policy and the global economy. Senior correspondent Justin Worland goes beyond traditional climate coverage to connect the energy transition to the bigger decisions reshaping companies, markets and society. 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Future Proof is TIME's weekly climate and energy newsletter, written by senior correspondent Justin Worland. It connects the energy transition to the decisions reshaping business, technology, policy and markets. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Jennifer Calfas](https://time.com/author/jennifer-calfas/) ## Jennifer Calfas Apr 1, 2018 2:14 PM UTC  An upgraded Long March 2F rocket carries the Shenzhou-8 spacecraft at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on October 26, 2011 in Jiuquan, China. An upgraded Long March 2F rocket carries the Shenzhou-8 spacecraft at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on October 26, 2011 in Jiuquan, China. VCG—VCG via Getty Images by [Jennifer Calfas](https://time.com/author/jennifer-calfas/) ## Jennifer Calfas Apr 1, 2018 2:14 PM UTC The Chinese space lab [Tiangong-1](http://time.com/5209641/tiangong-1-chinese-space-lab/) is expected to fall back to Earth within the next 24 hours, putting an end to the nearly 19,000-pound, out-of-control space craft. Tiangong-1, [or “Heavenly Palace,”](http://time.com/5218546/tiangong-falling-space-station-china/) will re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere at some point late Sunday evening or early Monday morning, according to the European Space Agency’s Space Debris Office. The estimates were made on Coordinated Universal Time, which is four hours ahead of Eastern Time. The Space Agency notes the spacecraft could hit the Earth anywhere within a [large band of 43 degrees north and 43 degrees south](http://blogs.esa.int/rocketscience/files/2018/01/esa%5Fesoc%5Ftiangong1%5Frisk%5Fmap%5Fjan2018-1024x375.png) of the equator. That area includes the majority of the United States, Mexico, South America, Africa, India, Australia and a host of other countries. The chance of someone getting hit by the spacecraft is very low, as TIME has previously reported. According to the Aerospace Corporation, the odds of someone getting hit by a falling space object like this one is less than 1 in 1 trillion, and debris from the spacecraft will most likely fall into the ocean. People can expect to see what will look like “a shower of meteors,” according to the China Manned Space Engineering Office. The “Heavenly Palace” space station was China’s first as the country bulked up its space program. The spacecraft was launched into space in September 2011, and has been the site of a two-man mission and a three-man mission. The latter mission included China’s first female astronaut, Liu Yang. Tiangong-1 lost connection with Earth back in 2016, however, making the spacecraft’s reentry to the Earth’s atmosphere an out-of-control fall. The unsuccessful orbit for the spacecraft did not slow down China’s space program, however. The country launched the larger Tiangong-2 in September 2016, and that spacecraft is now in orbit. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5223830/china-tiangong-1-falling-to-earth/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5223830/china-tiangong-1-falling-to-earth/"},"headline":"Chinese Space Lab Tiangong-1 Is Expected to Fall to Earth in the Next 24 Hours","datePublished":"2018-04-01T14:14:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T19:50:28.750Z","description":"The chances of someone getting hit are low","url":"https://time.com/5223830/china-tiangong-1-falling-to-earth/","keywords":["Space","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb3b7e271d2193a82/69892c3e8fd2ee1acf35b2aa/tiangong-1-chinese-space-station.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jennifer Calfas","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jennifer-calfas/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb3b7e271d2193a82/69892c3e8fd2ee1acf35b2aa/tiangong-1-chinese-space-station.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Tiangong 1 Chinese Space Station","caption":"Tiangong 1 Chinese Space Station","creditText":"VCG—VCG via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/space/","name":"Space"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5223830/china-tiangong-1-falling-to-earth/","name":"Chinese Space Lab Tiangong-1 Is Expected to Fall to Earth in the Next 24 Hours"}}]}] ```