A deserted German satellite was close to crashing into Beijing before it eventually plunged into the Indian Ocean last October, Daily Telegraph reported.

The European Space Agency told Das Spiegel magazine that its new calculations have discovered that if the 2.5-ton Rosat satellite's re-entry had been delayed for seven more minutes, the Chinese capital of 20 million people would have faced a deep impact.

The satellite's remnants, travelling at speeds of 280mph (450.6kph), would have destroyed buildings, left craters and almost certainly caused causalities.

(China.org.cn February 2, 2012)

据英国《每日电讯报》报道，去年10月，一枚废弃的德国卫星在坠入印度洋之前，曾差点坠落北京。

欧洲宇航局向德国《明镜》杂志透露，最新测算结果表明，如果这枚2.5吨重的“伦琴”号卫星重返地球的时间再推迟7分钟，拥有2000万人口的中国首都北京将面临“深度撞击”。

卫星的残余部分坠落时速达到280英里（450.6公里），将会摧毁建筑、形成撞击坑，一定会造成人员伤亡。