---
title: "Chinese Rocket Launch Covers Village in Toxic Debris. Again."
description: "The booster from a Chinese rocket landed on populated settlement on Saturday — and China could have prevented the whole situation from unfolding."
date: "2019-11-25"
modified: "2019-11-25"
authors:
  - name: "Kristin Houser"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/kristin"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/chinese-rocket-launch-covers-village-toxic-debris"
categories:
  - "Off-World"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "china"
  - "rocket"
  - "satellite"
  - "the digest"
---

# Chinese Rocket Launch Covers Village in Toxic Debris. Again.

![The booster from a Chinese rocket landed on populated settlement on Saturday — and China could have prevented the whole situation from unfolding.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/chinese-rocket-launch-covers-village-toxic-debris.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: AAxanderr\</em\>*

## Deadly Debris

On Saturday, China's space agency [launched a Long March 3B rocket](<https://www.space.com/chinese-rocket-launch-drops-debris-on-homes.html>) from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.

The mission was a success in that it resulted in the delivery of two satellites into orbit. But when the rocket's first stage booster returned to Earth, it landed on a populated area, *Ars Technica* [reported](<https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/11/china-keeps-dropping-toxic-rocket-parts-on-its-villages/>), destroying a building and blanketing the area in toxic smoke — a space-age environmental catastrophe China could easily have prevented.

https://twitter.com/LaunchStuff/status/1198172138521448448

## Location, Location, Location

The United States and many other space-faring nations typically build their launch sites near coasts. That's specifically so they can avoid putting the lives of residents at risk — any debris that returns to Earth can just fall into the ocean downrange.

But during the Cold War, China built several major launch centers inland for "security purposes," *Ars Technica* pointed out.

In the decades since, missions from those sites have repeatedly put residents in harm's way — in 1996, one Chinese rocket crashed into a village shortly after launch, killing either six people or hundreds, depending on whether you believe China or [outside sources](<https://www.thespacereview.com/article/2323/1>).

## Trading Live

China could slow its space efforts while building new launch sites in unpopulated or coastal areas.

But instead, it has actually [increased its number of rocket launches](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/china-launches-more-orbital-rockets>) in recent years in pursuit of space domination — a distinction it clearly sees as being worth the lives of its own residents.

**READ MORE:** [Once again, a Chinese rocket has doused a village with toxic fuel](<https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/11/china-keeps-dropping-toxic-rocket-parts-on-its-villages/>) \[*Ars Technica*\]

**More on China:** *[China Now Launches More Orbital Rockets Than Any Other Country](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/china-launches-more-orbital-rockets>)*

### Author social links  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinjhouser>)