WATCH Video: China's Long March 11 boosters crash in Guangxi region
China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, the Long March 11 carrier rocket blasted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Southwest China's Sichuan Province. A pair of side boosters from the Long March 3B rocket used in a recent launch appear to have descended near populated regions in the Guangxi province, downrange from the Xichang launch site in Sichuan.
Footage was captured by locals present on the site and circulated on Chinese social media Weibo, revealed one booster plummeting and exploding in a wooded area, while another video captured a falling booster and subsequent wreckage near a residence. Notably, both videos show the release of reddish-brown gas, likely nitrogen tetroxide, and a yellowish gas, possibly due to unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) fuel mingling with air.
The Long March 3B's first stage and four side boosters employed a hypergolic propellant combination of hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide, both of which pose significant health hazards. The reported locations, near Baise and Debao in Guangxi, align with the anticipated drop zones as indicated by airspace closure notices, according to a report by Space News.
China Daily reported that it was the eighth sea-based launch of Chinese rockets and the second from the South China Sea. The Long March-3B carrier rocket and the Yuanzheng-1 upper stage attached to the carrier rocket, carrying the 57th and the 58th satellites of the BeiDou Satellite Navigation System (BDS) system, thundered into the sky to their preset orbits.
The Long March 11 rocket has been developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology and has a length of 20.8 metres, a liftoff weight of 58 metric tonnes, and a diameter of 2 metres. It has the
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