Debris from an uncontrollable Chinese rocket is expected to make an unpredictable re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere this weekend, most likely landing in one of the planet's 70 oceans.

The Long March 5B rocket, which launched China's Tianhe space station module last week, is crashing to Earth in an uncontrolled manner, causing panic among the public.

It is one of the largest and heaviest pieces of space debris to fall down to Earth, weighing in at 21 tonnes.

Owing to too many uncertainties in atmospheric drag, including the impact of the solar wind (plasma and particles from the sun) on the Earth's atmosphere, precise monitoring of the debris fall is difficult.

The rocket is scheduled to reenter Earth's atmosphere between 1.30 pm UTC (7.30 pm IST) on May 8 and 7.30 pm UTC on May 9. (1.00 am IST on 10 May).

Since its orbital inclination is 41.5 degrees, the crash is predicted to occur between latitudes 41.5 degrees north (running through North America, Southern Europe, and China) and 41.5 degrees south (running through South America, Africa, Australia, and New Zealand).

Experts are unsure of the exact date or location of the incident. The chances of debris colliding with a populated area are extremely remote, but they can't be ruled out completely.

Any harm is downplayed by the Chinese.

China, on the other hand, has downplayed the rocket, claiming that it is highly unlikely to endanger or damage aeronautical activities or the Earth.

According to Chinese media, fragments of the disintegrated rocket will fall into international waters.

China used the rocket to launch a portion of its space station. Although most space debris burns up in the atmosphere, the rocket's size - 22 tonnes - has raised concerns that large pieces might re-enter the atmosphere and cause harm if they reach populated areas.

Last year, debris from the first Long March 5B flight re-entered the atmosphere over the Ivory Coast, destroying many homes in villages. Since the US space laboratory Skylab shattered debris over the southern Australian town of Esperance in 1979, it was the largest craft to crash to Earth.

In the coming weeks, China is scheduled to conduct further launches as part of its space station program, with the aim of completing the mission next year.

Here's how to keep track of it on the internet.

The Aerospace Corporation, which supports national security space programs, has been updating its Twitter feed and the status on a regular basis.

The United States Space Command is also providing updates on the time and date of the Chinese rocket launch on its Twitter account.