the essential
The launch of a satellite from China’s Xichang space center caused panic among residents living nearby on Saturday June 22. A video that has gone viral on social media shows huge debris from the rocket falling near homes.
This time, danger came from the sky. And more precisely, of the rocket which took off on Saturday from the Xichang space center (China), reveals Futura Sciences. The first stage of the launcher fell in a densely populated area, causing residents to flee who feared for their lives, as shown in a video seen several million times on social networks.
Satellite launches help advance science. However, what happens on Earth after a rocket takes off is rarely known to the general public. The launcher is made up of several stages, the first of which, which contains the boosters – the fuel tanks which provide the thrust necessary to free the vehicle from Earth’s gravity – detaches a few minutes after takeoff.
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Usually, these elements fall back to Earth in sea or desert areas to avoid a disaster. But that is not what happened Monday. China’s Xichang launch site is built near densely populated areas and the debris fell near the village of Guiding, in Guizhou province, home to more than 3 million people. On the other hand, the orange smoke released by the tank comes from the combustion of a highly polluting and toxic fuel, which is now only used in China’s older generation rockets.
The incident fortunately did not cause any casualties, but it raises questions about the security measures in force. There are more and more takeoffs from this Chinese base, and with them, these incidents. Local authorities regularly issue evacuation orders. But the population, probably out of ignorance, does not follow the recommendations, or only rarely.
Franco-Chinese collaboration
The satellite launched by the Svom mission was placed in orbit 600 kilometers from Earth. The scientific objective is to detect “gamma-ray bursts” in space, extremely powerful explosions that should allow us to learn more about the history of the Universe.
Some of the instruments on board the observatory were designed by more than a hundred engineers from CNES in Toulouse. This major project is the result of the collaboration between France and China that began in 2006. A “human adventure” hailed by researchers.
