China's first experimental space lab is expected to fall back to Earth between March 31 and April 4 and should burn up in the atmosphere, space authorities said. Tiangong-1 has officially stopped sending data and entered its final phase of life on March 16, a statement issued yesterday by the China Manned Space Engineering Office said.

The Tiangong, or Heavenly Palace, is orbiting at an average height of about 216.2 kms, the announcement noted, but did not disclose any re-entry location. It is impossible to name the exact re-entry location at this stage, a Chinese aerospace expert told state-run 'Global Times'. The approximate re-entry location cannot be decided until the last two hours before it starts to fall based on international precedents, he said.