It seems like this is a consequence of the Long March 5 using a variation on the "stage and a half" design where the main engine fires from liftoff to orbit, wi

It seems like this is a consequence of the Long March 5 using a variation on the "stage and a half" design where the main engine fires from liftoff to orbit, with side boosters being discarded in a suborbital trajectory. The Atlas Rocket family (prior to Atlas V), Energia/Buran, and the Space Shuttle had a similar design, with a bulky central stage left in low earth orbit, where its will probably deorbit in an unpredictable location. Fortunately, in the case of the shuttle, the engines were on the orbiter, so only the relatively light fuel tank had the problem, while the Atlas used a balloon tank[1] which relied on the pressure of its fuel and oxidizer for structural integrity that would presumably collapse and break up in an atmosphere. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balloon_tank https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balloon_tank