this footage captures the 1996 Chinese
launched Intel SATs 708
telecommunications satellites departing
from the Z Chang Satellite Launch Center
to disastrous results shortly after
liftoff the rocket malfunctioned and was
sent flying nearly horizontal just
barely above the earth although the
exact crash site was covered up it is
thought that the rocket traveled
anywhere from 1 to 1.5 miles or 1.5 to 2
kilometers before crashing into a hill
in a nearby town
origin
NASA decided to ban commercial payloads
from its space shuttle program due to
the 1986 space shuttle Challenger
disaster when Challenger broke down 73
seconds after liftoff this left American
satellite operators in search of space
launch options in Europe or Asia the
Chinese government was seeking to be
competitive in space so it offered to
take Intel SATs 708 satellites on the
untested long march 3b rocket the price
of only 56 million dollars was half that
of the European area and launch price
tag Californian company Space Systems
Loral received permission from the US
Department of State to launch the Intel
Sat satellites in collaboration with the
Chinese the components for the
satellites however had to be transported
in stages to comply with ITA are
restrictions so the Commerce Department
took from 1992 to 1996 to finish
transferring them Engineers sent from
the United States reportedly found the
infrastructure of the Chinese Space
Center to be just sufficient but a tad
primitive Intel sat placed all of its
Western employees and contractors in a
renovated hotel with Americanized
conditions some were worried by the
experiences they had at Z Chang
preceding the launch several engineers
suspected they were being spied on by
the Chinese particularly after a tennis
court net materialized just minutes
after it was pointed out that the net
was missing
none of the Chinese staff had been
present for the conversation furthermore
the Western team felt the Chinese safety
protocols and attitudes were too relaxed
in fact reports circulated that the
launch pad intended for the Intelsat 708
had undergone repairs after an
accidental ignition in an enclosed room
during an earlier test for a solid fuel
rocket motor the launch was scheduled
for 2:50 a.m. on February the 15th
morning all the hotel staff and guests
were summoned to the satellites
preparation building by Space Systems
Loral the building to the south of the
planned flight path and protected from
the launch pad by mountains was packed
with Westerners and Chinese locals alike
many staff members asked for permission
to go home and rest instead of attending
the launch but those requests were
denied launch
On February 15th 1996 the 426 ton long
marched 3 B Rockets flew for only 22
seconds in the direction of the village
before crashing into it
the overstressed payload broke off from
the rocket and flew to the ground as it
flew the explosion burned most of the
components and allegedly took some of
the villagers the American engineers
involved repeatedly claimed that as they
were transported to the satellite
processing building they witnessed
villagers approaching the area of the
crash Bruce Campbell an engineer
involved in the project told a Natalie
Zak of aerospace magazine that's quote
it was a party atmosphere
there were many dozens if not hundreds
of people there the Chinese government
on the other hand claimed that most of
the villagers had been evacuated before
the launch immediately after the start
there was widespread panic among the
staff the toxic fumes originating from
the oxidizer and fuel could enter the
building all air conditioning and
airflow mechanisms were shut down and
people were crammed into the fueling
facility the most isolated part of the
building everyone was also given gas
masks and protective equipment the
initial panic was calmed down when
detectors did not pick up any signs of
toxins as the wind was blowing them away
they communicated with the employees at
the Mission Control Center who are also
safe the footage was analyzed in the
United States by experts almost
immediately as the event was being
televised observers saw that the nozzles
of the Rockets had been wildly swiveling
as it tried to correct its course before
crashing one of the team members who had
been standing on the roof of a building
actually recorded the accidents he fell
when the blast wave hits but was not
thrown off the roof the extent and
details of the accidents consequences
have been hotly debated by witnesses and
analysts the governments through the Xin
hua news agency
or new China News Agency reported that
six people were missing after the
accidents while 57 were injured yet
American media estimated that around 200
to 500 people should have been impacted
by the crash witness reports
contradicted the numbers released by the
Chinese once the area was safe to
explore eyewitnesses claimed that all
the village buildings were either
structurally damaged beyond repair or
flat-out gone at the same time
dozens of ambulances were spotted in the
area as well as several covered flatbed
trucks
aftermath
official reports stated that the rocket
had been completely destroyed but the
satellite was allegedly intact and
shipped back to the United States
Campbell told Aerospace magazine quote
we were there with the Chinese going
over a routine of this is ours this is
yours it was surprising how much of it
survived the propellant tanks were
intact liquid apogee motor solar panels
much of the structure he also believed
that the reported death toll was
incorrect the village no longer exists
and the space review later found that
the village population was less than
1,000 they were also routinely evacuated
before events seemingly giving some
credibility to the government's claim of
a limited impact as for what caused the
crash an investigation conducted by the
Chinese resulted in a reports claiming
the inertial measurement unit had
malfunctioned on the other hand the
companies in charge of the satellite
Insurance conducted its own review
identifying a different set of issues
that the Chinese adopted into their
official account the findings were used
to improve the Rockets from the long
march sense Space Systems Loral
also managed to recover essential
components of their equipment including
sensitive communications and encryption
technology that could have been
dangerous if it fell into the wrong
hands