China decommissions its first space laboratory after completing full orbit that lasted more than two years in a bid to clear the atmosphere for the launch of its successor this 2016.
The Tiangong-1 has terminated its data service after 1,630 days in orbit, the country's manned space engineering department told the Xinhua News Agency on Monday.
Launched in Sept. 2011, the Tiangong-1 stayed in orbit for an extended period of about two and a half years but has recently failed to function, which is why officials decided to decommission it once and for all.
"Its functioning failed recently, its data service has been terminated officially," the China Manned Space Engineering Office declared in an official statement cited by the South China Morning Post.
According to the statement, the Tiangong-1 had accomplished its purpose and "accumulated important experience for the construction and operation of a space station."
According to Xinhua, the space lab served as a station where several Chinese spacecraft such as the Shenzhou-8, Shenzhou-9 and Shenzhou-10 docked successfully.
Its main missions ended in June 2013 when the Shenzhou-10 had successfully returned home to Earth.
During its orbit, the Tiangong-1 also welcomed visitors like China's first female astronauts Wang Yaping and Liu Yang, and housed experiments to determine brain function and cardiovascular regulation as well as the impact of air quality and noise on health while in space.
The space crew was able to send images from Tiangong-1 thanks to its ultra-high-definition camera.
Now, the Tiangong-1 will be allowed to gradually descend from space and burn up as it goes through the Earth's atmosphere for the next couple of months, ending its journey where it began.
Meanwhile, the Tiangong-2 or the so-called "Heavenly Palace" is scheduled to be launched into space to test cutting-edge technology, including a cold atom-powered space clock which is set to provide secure and accurate communication in space.