The UK government is making provisions for an emergency alert due to concerns about an out-of-control Chinese rocket falling from space.
Officials are keeping an eye on the debris from the Zhuque-3 rocket, which has a small chance of landing in Britain.
Zhuque-3 was launched on 3 December 2025 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China, and is expected to re-enter the atmosphere at around midday on Friday (30 January).
Although the rocket – which is designed to carry spacecraft or satellites into space – was successfully sent into orbit, the reusable booster using SpaceX tech failed to land safely and exploded.
The Aerospace Corporation’s tracker predicts a re-entry time of around 12.30pm on Friday, plus or minus 15 hours.
The Chinese Zhuque-3 rocket is expected to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere today (30 January) (Ni Yanqiang/Zhejiang Daily Press Group/VCG via Getty Images)
A government spokesperson confirmed to The Telegraph that they have been in touch with the UK’s mobile phone networks to check if their emergency alert system is still working.
This is in case the space junk does land in Britain, so people living close by can be alerted in advance.
However, the spokesperson said that it was ‘extremely unlikely’ for that to happen, noting that emergency systems are ‘tested routinely’ and they are always ready just in case.
“It is extremely unlikely that any debris enters UK airspace,” they said.
Anywhere along the blue and yellow lines could be a location the rocket debris could land in (Aerospace Corporation)
“These events happen approximately 70 times a month and the vast majority of debris breaks up upon entry and lands in the oceans.
“As you’d expect, we have well-rehearsed plans for a variety of different risks including those related to space, that are tested routinely with partners.”
Prof Hugh Lewis, an expert at Birmingham University’s Space Environment and Radio Engineering research group, told the outlet that the remains of Zhuque-3 could pass over Northern Ireland, northern Scotland or northern England.
Earth’s orbit is cluttered with space junk (Getty Stock Images)
“Most space objects burn up on re-entry so we don’t tend to worry too much, but if it’s a bigger object, or made of materials that are highly resistant to heat, like stainless steel or titanium, they can make it through,” Prof Lewis said.
“If there was a strong possibility of it landing in the UK, then an emergency alert would make sense but, as far as I can tell, we just don’t have that certainty yet.”
It comes after Poland’s space agency said that fragments of the rocket could possibly ‘pass over a large part of Europe, including Poland’.
Last May, 53-year-old Soviet space probe Kosmos 482 re-entered Earth’s atmosphere with projections suggesting a path over southern England.
Those projections ended up being wrong after the craft landed west of Jakarta, Indonesia, in the Indian Ocean.
