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The launcher that put the Franco-Chinese SVOM satellite into orbit hit a mountain in Sichuan minutes later
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To make matters worse, it used hypergolic propulsion, cheaper and more manageable, but highly toxic and corrosive.
The recent launch of a joint French-Chinese mission from the Chinese province of Sichuan drew more attention to how the Asian country disposes of its space boosters than to the satellite itself.
A new release. A CZ-2C rocket from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) took off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center on Saturday at 7:00 UTC.
The rocket launched into orbit a Franco-Chinese satellite called SVOM, the world’s most powerful new observatory for detecting gamma ray bursts, short-lived cosmic explosions that are extremely violent and emit high-energy rays.
A new lottery. Minutes after takeoff, the first stage of the rocket separated from the second stage and began its return to earth in free fall, until it hit a leafy mountain near the launch platform.
The inhabitants of this rural area of China, who had come to watch the space launch, experienced a brief moment of panic when they saw the booster approaching with a dense yellow trail.
A highly toxic trail. The CZ-2C rocket uses hypergolic propulsion, cheaper and more manageable than cryogenic propulsion, but the characteristic yellow color of its exhaust gases is a product of dinitrogen tetroxide (N₂O₄), a very toxic and corrosive oxidant.
For its part, the fuel, unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH), is classified as a carcinogen and can cause serious damage to the liver and other organs. In 1975, during the Apollo-Soyuz mission, three American astronauts nearly suffered serious injuries when they were briefly exposed to these propellants.
China’s lax regulation. Virtually all of the world’s expendable rockets land in designated areas of the ocean, but Chinese space regulations (quite lax compared to those in Europe and the United States) allow rockets like the CZ-2 and the CZ-3’s side boosters to land near populated areas, impregnating everything in their path with toxic fuel.
China has tried adding aerodynamic grilles to these rockets to guide them away from populated areas, and is studying the use of parachutes and other reusable technologies for the future, but the images recorded on Saturday, images that have been repeated for years, They show that you are not in a hurry to change things.
China’s lack of strict regulation gives it a competitive economic advantage and has allowed its space program to grow rapidly. The environmental and human cost of this growth is questionable.
Images | CASC, Weibo
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