Blast Deals Blow to China Space Program
NEW YORK — A massive explosion at China’s Xichiang launch facility killed at least two people and destroyed a $75-million weather satellite, Newsweek magazine reported Sunday.
It quoted Western diplomats as saying the April 9 blast, which was probably caused by a leak in the on-board fuel system of the Fengyun 2 satellite, also leveled a key test lab at the launch facility 1,250 miles southwest of Beijing.
The brief report in the May 2 issue of the magazine gave no further details. But it described the accident as “a major setback†for China’s space program and said it was likely to delay six launches scheduled for later this year.
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