Chinese space rocket observed across Maltese skies as it re-entered Earth's atmosphere

Many people took to social media this morning after hearing a loud, unidentified explosion around 5:45 am on Monday.

In a Facebook post, individuals suggested the sound could have originated from satellite debris, noting it did not sound like lightning, an earthquake, or coming from a fireworks factory.

The sound was observed across most localities in the Maltese islands.

Speaking with MaltaToday, a spokesperson for Xjenza Malta said that the atmospheric phenomenon has been identified as the uncontrolled re-entry of the ZK-2 Rocket Body from a Chinese space mission.

"International tracking data from the International Meteor Organisation and EU Space Surveillance and Tracking confirm the object transitioned from Italy toward Tripoli, undergoing total structural disintegration over the Malta-Sicily channel."

The sounds heard was a hypersonic shockwave resulting from the fragmentation at high altitude.

The spokesperson explained that the mission successfully delivered the Qingzhou (Light Ship) cargo spacecraft prototype to orbit.

"This spacecraft is a 4.2-tonne vessel developed by the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites (CAS) to support the Tiangong Space Station. The re-entry witnessed today was the planned, albeit uncontrolled, disposal of the second-stage booster that remained in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) for 14 days following the initial launch."