JIUQUAN -- China's first space lab Tiangong-1 is expected to fall into the Earth's atmosphere in the latter half of 2017, after about six years in the space, a senior official with the country's manned space program said Wednesday.

Tiangong-1 was launched in September 2011 and ended its data service in March this year, when it had "comprehensively fulfilled its historical mission," said Wu Ping, deputy director of the manned space engineering office, at a press conference here.