Stargate

“The agency wishes to clarify that the object, a metallic ring measuring 2.5 metres in diameter and weighing about 500kg, is a fragment of a space object,” the agency said in a statement.

“Preliminary assessments indicate that the fallen object is a separation ring from a launch vehicle.”

Rocket debris is designed to burn up during re-entry into the earth's atmosphere or to fall over unoccupied areas such as the oceans.

“There are many pieces of debris in space and one cannot be 100 per cent certain which will fall where,” the agency said. “However, most debris burns up in the atmosphere, and incidents like this are extremely rare.”