Chinese space station will fall in the early hours of Monday but it’s unlikely to land on your roof

Chinese space station Tiangong-1 is expected to re-enter earth’s atmosphere anytime between 1am and 5am, the European Space Agency said.

This is the last and most accurate forecast that will be available until the re-entry, as scientists have reached the limit of their capability to project when the vessel will start its fiery descent.

Tiangong-1 was decommissioned by the China in 2016 after serving for five years as a space lab for visiting astronauts. However, communication broke down and scientists lost control of the re-entry, which is normally done through booster rockets that guide the vessel back to a remote spot in the Southern Ocean.

Although, most of the bus-size space station is expected to disintegrate upon re-entry, up to between 20% and 30% of the vessel could make it to the earth’s surface.

Even so, scientists insist the probability of debris hitting populated areas is very low.

Malta falls within the large band spanning the globe where scientists expect Tiangong-1 to re-enter earth’s atmosphere.