Second dual Beidou launch of the year is success but Long March rocket stage hits building

by | Nov 25, 2019 | China, Launches, Military space, Satellites, Seradata News

A Long March 3B/YZ-1 (CZ-3B/YZ-1) rocket lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, South-western China, on 23 November, at 00.55 GMT. The mission is to aid the Chinese satellite navigation system, Beidou – Compass in English. On board the rocket were two Beidou-3 satellites, the M-21 and M-22 units, which were being transported to Medium Earth Orbit (MEO). The rocket was equipped with the YZ-1 Upper stage.

Launch of pair of Beidou 3 satellites on Long March 3B/YZ1 in November 2019. Courtesy: CASC

Following the launch, it is reported that the rocket’s first stage crashed down onto a house in a village down range. Immediate reports do not suggest any casualties. While an evacuation warning is normally given to the population lying on the ground track, post-crash video footage shows people in the immediate vicinity. This is not without risk to them given that the immediate surroundings would been exposed to contamination by toxic hydrazine/nitrogen tetroxide propellant combination used by the first stage.

China is currently examining the use of fins to help steer stages away from buildings and population centres. However, so far, only the Long March 2C and Long March 4B rockets have flown with these. Given that the Long March 3B will be retired in favour of the Long March 5 flown ocean-wards from Hunan Island, it is unlikely that these will be fitted to that launch vehicle.

Tell-tale orange vapour of poisonous propellants rises above smashed stage and building ruins. Courtesy: The Internet

 

About Seradata

Seradata produce the renowned Seradata database. Trusted by over 100 of the world’s leading Space organisations, Seradata is a fully queryable database used for market analysis, failure/risk assessment, spectrum analysis and space situational awareness (SSA).

For more information go to https://www.seradata.com/product/

Related Articles

Categories

Archives

Tags

nasaspacexecoreviewsissesaArianespacevideochina25virgin galacticFalcon 9v1.2FT Block 5falcon 9ULARoscosmosevaDGAspacewalkaviation weekaressoyuzIGTInternational Space StationBeidouawardsspaceRocket LabStarlinkBlue OriginSatellite broadcastingrussiamoonISROAirbus DSCargo Return VehicleboeingmarsblogresearchOneWebspaceshiptwoorionjaxaimpacthyperboladelaymarsEutelsatdemocratrocketlunarhypertextobamagoogle lunar prizelaunchVegabarack obamaconstellationSEStourismnorthfiguresthales alenia spacespaceflightnode 2fundedRaymond LygoIntelsat2009Lockheed MartinExpress MD-2Elon MuskAtlas Vromess2dassault aviationaviationLucy2008wk2sstlukradiomissilesuborbitaldocking portexplorationAriane 5 ECAVirgin OrbittestinternetChina Manned Space EngineeringAriane 5Northrop GrummanSLSLong March 2D/2sts-122Electron2010space tourismflightcotsnewspapermissile defensegalileospaceportExpress AMU 1Long March 4Cbuildspace stationaltairinternational astronautical congresssoyuz 2-1ashuttleProton MEuropean Space AgencyLauncherOneCosmosIntelsat 23scaled compositesrulesspace shuttlenew yorkhanleybudgetatvVietnamshenzhouAriane 6congressMojaveboldenLong March 2COrbital ATKnew shepardInmarsatGuiana Space Centeriaccneslunar landerksclawsSpace Systems/LoralUK Space AgencyLong March 4BILSUS Air ForceprotonTalulah RileyApollodarpaFalcon 9v1.2 Block 5Kuaizhou 1AVega CSkylonAstriumeupicturebaseusaastronautdragonlanderfiveeventTelesatNorth KoreaSSLElectron KSAprilSNC50thinterviewfalconSea LaunchLong MarchWednesdaycustomerlinkatlantissuccessor