Emergency alert prepared for UK as Brits brace for mobile warning

Rocket launched in early December

The Zhuque-3 Y1 mission blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China on December 3, 2025.

Built to ferry payloads such as spacecraft or satellites beyond Earth’s atmosphere, the vehicle serves as an orbital launch system.

Whilst the rocket made it into orbit successfully, the reusable booster – designed along SpaceX lines – came crashing back down and detonated upon impact.

Northern UK most likely impact zone

Prof Hugh Lewis, an expert at Birmingham University’s Space Environment and Radio Engineering research group, said the Chinese rocket body was most likely to pass over Northern Ireland, northern Scotland or northern England.

The Chinese rocket had a predicted re-entry time of 12.30pm on Friday, plus or minus 15 hours, according to The Aerospace Corporation’s tracker. Prof Lewis said it meant there was a “very large” amount of unpredictability involving where the debris could land.

He said: “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.”

“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.”

Article source: https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/2164474/emergency-alert-britain-china-space-rocket-debris