A defunct Chinese space station weighing 18,000 pounds re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere and burned up over the middle of the South Pacific on Monday, Beijing’s space authority said.

The Tiangong-1 space station entered the atmosphere around 8:15 a.m. Beijing time and the “vast majority” of it burned up.

It had been expected to re-enter off the Brazilian coast in the South Atlantic near Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

The 34.1-foot Tiangong-1, or “Heavenly Palace 1,” was launched in 2011 to carry out docking and orbit experiments as part of China’s ambitious space program, which aims to place a permanent station in orbit by 2023.

It was originally planned to be decommissioned in 2013 but its mission was repeatedly extended.