SpaceX rocket decays in the atmosphere after 5 years

The second stage of Falcon 9, a 2017 rocket, re-entered the atmosphere and burned up completely before reaching the ground.

The Falcon 9 rocket stage burned down in the sky over Mexico. (Video: Twitter/Frontera Espacial)

The upper stage of the Falcon 9 (SpaceX) rocket appears to have safely decayed over northern Mexico on February 6. This is the rocket used to launch Echostar 23 satellite into space in March 2017.

SpaceX and CEO Elon Musk have not yet responded to the incident. However, the Aerospace Corporation, an American organization that monitors the re-entry of satellites and space vehicles, has confirmed that the Falcon 9 rocket stage re-entered the atmosphere.

The Echostar 23 satellite was launched into a geostationary transition orbit at an altitude of about 35,900 km, headed for a position above the equator at 45 degrees west longitude. Its mission is to provide broadcasting, Internet and other communication services to Brazil. The satellite is still operational and is expected to exist for at least another decade, according to NASA.

The Falcon 9 rocket stage re-enters the atmosphere.

Rocket stage or other space junk falling into Earth's atmosphere and burning up is not unusual. Last year, a Falcon 9 rocket stage also disintegrated in the sky over Seattle, USA, in a similar way.

Another SpaceX rocket stage is predicted to crash into the Moon. This is the booster stage of the Falcon 9 rocket, which has been floating in orbit since SpaceX launched the space weather satellite in 2015. Because the Moon does not have a thick atmosphere like Earth, it is likely that the collision will create a new crater. If so, spacecraft orbiting the Moon such as the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (NASA) and Chandrayaan-2 (India) could observe the crater.