Point Nemo – Earth’s space cemetery
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China’s out-of-control rocket core draws attention to how agencies can safely dispose of unwanted spacecraft using Earth’s “Point Nemo”
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Point Nemo: Named after submariner from Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Single point on Earth that is furthest away from any land mass
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Famous spacecraft dumped here:

Mar 2001: Mir, Russia’s 10-year-old, 130-tonne space station deorbits into South Pacific

Apr 2018: Having lost control of Tiangong-1 space station, China deorbits it

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South America
Antarctica
2,688km to nearest island – Ducie Island
Point Nemo
South Pacific Ocean
New Zealand
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In reality, bulk of deorbited space debris scatters across wide swathe of ocean. There are more than 260 spacecraft here, with Russia responsible for about 75% of them
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International Space Station is closer to Point Nemo than anyone on Earth, being 360km above it
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Sources: Interesting Engineering, Popular Science, NOAA Pictures: Getty Images © GRAPHIC NEWS