The booster of the first stage of the Long March 2C Y50 rocket used to launch the French-Chinese SVOM satellite into orbit fell near Guiding, in the Chinese province of Guizhou: a danger warning had been issued in the area but the fall of the booster caused alarmed the population, causing them to flee.
The space rocket booster launched on Saturday in China, with the SVOM satellite on board, it fell in Guiding, in the Chinese province of Guizhou: a danger warning had been issued in the area but the fall of the first stage of the rocket nevertheless alarmed the population, putting her on the run. The booster hit the ground shortly after 3pm local time and, as shown by the videos currently circulating online, during the fall it produced a trail of yellowish smoke, probably due to the propellant. The launch took place from the Chinese center of Xichang, to send the Franco-Chinese mission into orbit Space Variable Objects Monitor (SVOM).
The launch was declared successful by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) shortly after liftoff. The mission is aimed at monitoring gamma-ray bursts violent electromagnetic explosions which can release as much energy in just a few seconds as the Sun will emit during its entire life of 10 billion years. Specifically, the mission will measure high-energy electromagnetic radiation in the X-ray and gamma-ray range using two scientific payloads developed in France and two in China.
These include the Microchannel X-ray Telescope (MXT), a narrow-field optimized X-ray focusing telescope, now launched into space as part of the SVOM mission which saw collaboration between the China National Space Administration (CNSA) and the French National Space Studies Center (CNES).
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The booster crash near a city in China
The launch of SVOM and the subsequent fall of part of the Long March 2C Y50 rocket, however, sent residents of Guiding county, in the Chinese province of Guizhou, to flight. The area had been designated among those that could be affected by the fall of the booster, but according to media reports, the local government failed to adequately evacuate the surrounding areas.
Many have also highlighted the danger posed by the propellant released into the environment, a toxic, hypergolic mixture of nitrogen tetroxide and asymmetric dimethylhydrazine (UDMH). According to experts, darker gas or smoke coming from the booster could be indicative of the presence of nitrogen tetroxidewhile the yellowish gas could be caused by hydrazine mixing with air.
