Watch: Suspected rocket debris falls over village in China hours after launch

The debris was seen descending over a village in Sichuan hours after China launched the Long March 2C rocket.

New Delhi | June 25, 2024 05:03 PM IST

3 min read

The video was shared on X.

In an unexpected and dramatic turn of events, debris from a suspected Chinese rocket was seen falling over a village in Sichuan province, reported CNN.

After a video began circulating on Chinese video-sharing platforms showing what appears to be rocket debris, it also reached the social media platform X. In the video, a large, cylindrical object can be seen descending over a village, trailing smoke as it crashes near a hill.

The impact caused yellow smoke to billow from the fallen debris, creating a somewhat eerie scene. Villagers including children are seen running and looking back at the falling object, with some covering their ears, presumably bracing themselves for the impact.

The incident occurred just hours after China launched the Long March 2C rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre, sending a powerful satellite into orbit. The Long March 2C rocket, which took off at 3 pm local time (3 am Eastern Time) on June 22, was tasked with deploying the Space Variable Objects Monitor, developed in collaboration with France.

This satellite’s mission is to explore gamma-ray bursts, some of the most explosive events in the universe, helping scientists better understand these distant cosmic phenomena.

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China’s space programme has been accelerating rapidly under President Xi Jinping’s leadership, with a clear ambition to establish the country as a dominant force in space exploration.

Competing with space superpowers like the United States, China has been ramping up its missions, aiming to push the boundaries.

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