TIANGONG-1 IS THE NAME OF THE Chinese prototype space station, launched in September 2011. It was visited by several taikonauts (Chinese astronauts) up to 2013, but in 2016, ground controllers lost contact with the craft - and now it has plunged back to Earth. Most of Tiangong-1 burnt up during a fiery, uncontrolled re-entry, with surviving parts splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.