Tiangong-1: The China Manned Space programme was put into orbit in September 2011. (File)

A defunct Chinese space laboratory was moments away from re-entering Earth's atmosphere near Brazil on Monday as it meets a fiery end, two years after it stopped working.

The roughly eight-tonne Tiangong-1 module was expected to re-enter between 8:42 am and 9:01 am (0042 GMT and 0101 GMT) at 40.24 degrees west longitude, 27.4 degrees south latitude, or off Sao Paulo, according to the China Manned Space Agency.