Video Of Rocket Debris Struck Residential Area Went Viral Online

Just last week, from Xichang Satellite Launch Center, China put a new pair of satellites into orbit. But on social media, people are not paying attention to this. Rather, they are more concerned with the debris striking a residential area in rural areas in Southern China.

The damage caused by the debris has spread on social media. Fortunately, no one was injured but fire and toxic smoke from the debris cover the whole area.

A similar incident happened in 1996 when the Long March 3D launch event ended in tears. The rocket deviated, hitting a nearby village, killing 6 people and injuring 57 others.

According to Victoria Samson from the World Safety Fund, whenever a country plans on launching something into the sky, there will always be a possibility that it will crash to a place that wasn’t in the plan. So there is an obvious reason why no organization is launching a spacecraft in a densely populated area.

So why it is different in China? Thomas Roberts explains that it is because of the regional geography. Roberts, a space travel security specialist working at the International Center for Strategic Studies, certainly knows more or less about the complex space travel industry.

All three of China’s spaceports are located on the mainland, while most of the other nations that own space missiles conduct launches offshore. To save fuel for the flight, Chinese spacecraft will fly to the east but they will have to fly over densely populated areas.

For each launch, the local authorities send notices to residents. But while there is no human damage or people inhaling smoke from the rocket fuel, which can cause impairment to the body function or cancer), the debris from the rocket can pollute the area’s water sources. In the history of the space industry, a similar accident happened. At the launch site called Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, there were around 2,500 tons of rubbishes falling from the sky, causing residents in the area to face health problems.

This problem isn’t new. And the number of incidents will obviously increase in proportion to the growth of aerospace. But the solution is also very simple and straightforward, do not launch spacecrafts where there are people.

There are two ways for China to do so. Either it can change the launch site or change the flight path of the spacecraft. Moreover, the country also can improve missile technology, allowing the ground station to control it more easily.

And in order for the aerospace industry to change, social media is a powerful tool as the images on social media will catch the attention of people.