Once again, a Chinese rocket has doused a village with toxic fuel

Enlarge / A Long March 3B rocket launches from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center earlier this month. (credit: Costfoto / Barcroft Media via Getty Images)

China's space program now ranks among the most successful in the world, with more launches than any other country on an annual basis, the capability to send humans into orbit, and an exploration plan that includes firsts such as the Chang'e-4 spacecraft's landing on the far side of the Moon.

However, in its steady ascent China has flouted some norms of launch. One of these is that areas down range of launch pads should be sparsely populated-preferably oceans-due to launch hazards and the uncontrolled descent of first and second stages.

China's defiance of this norm has resulted in some horrific scenes as its boosters have periodically crashed into villages. On Friday, a Long March 3B rocket launched a pair of Beidou satellites into orbit. The rocket's ascent was normal, but its first stage booster tumbled into a village down range from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, in the South-Central part of the country.

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