A 2-ton capsule from a Chinese spy satellite most likely splashed into the Atlantic Ocean if it survived re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere late Monday, the Air Force said.

The capsule had been tumbling out of control at 17,000 mph when it re-entered the atmosphere just after 11 p.m. EST above the ocean, said Dave Knox, a spokesman for the U.S. Space Command here.

However, as expected, the Space Command lost track of the capsule after it was about 50 miles above Earth and scientists weren’t sure whether it burned up.

“If it survived re-entry, it should have impacted in the mid-southern Atlantic,” Knox said.

Officials had said all along there was not much chance that the satellite would hit land, or worse, smash into an inhabited area.

The Space Command has been tracking the FSW-1 imaging satellite since its launch Oct. 8, 1993.

The Space Command’s tracking equipment is pointed at space to look for incoming missiles, so it had no way of knowing for sure where the capsule landed after penetrating the atmosphere.

“Unless somebody finds a piece of it, there’s no way to know where it hit,” Knox said.

The capsule was the last of the satellite’s eight components to remain in orbit. The main satellite, a rocket body and five pieces of debris returned to Earth within the established timeline of less than a month of the launch.

The capsule, which weighs 4,000 pounds, was carrying a diamond-encrusted button commemorating Mao Tse-tung’s 100th birthday and a 24-karat gold mold for printing U.S. banknotes, according to a report last year by China’s Xinmin Evening News.

The report said the items were among souvenirs put aboard the satellite in hopes the space trip would increase their value.

In 1994, 96 objects a square meter or larger re-entered the atmosphere, with most of them landing in oceans, the space center said. So far this year, 11 objects have re-entered, all of them over ocean areas.

The space command said 11 ground-based radars worldwide had tracked the capsule, which had orbited Earth every 88 minutes.