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Not all rockets: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelsat_708 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelsat_708 (China, CZ-3B, Intelsat 708 payload, the launcher flew

by cstross 10y ago

Not all rockets: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelsat_708 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelsat_708 (China, CZ-3B, Intelsat 708 payload, the launcher flew off-course and crashed on a village in 1996: by some estimates 200-500 civilians were killed.)

ygra 10y ago
All rockets launched in the US have to have one, though :-)
dalke 10y ago
That links to http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2323/1 http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2323/1 where one of the comments is: > Like Russian vehicles, there is no flight termination system that receives ground commands onboard Chinese launch vehicles. Only US and ESA launch sites have such a system. Correction, Falcon 1 did not have such a system for launching on Kwaj.
- dogma1138 10y ago
  That's because usually the US and ESA/France launch from densely populated areas. The launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center/CC is effectively about 50 mile from downtown Orlando, Baikonur is in the middle of nowhere.
  - T0T0R0 10y ago
    Okay, rockets that can go very high, can still crash very far away. An unpredictable, malfunctioning rocket could still million-to-one itself onto a school bus filled with children, halfway across a continent.
    - dalke 10y ago
      Phlarp's original comment was about 'a "Range Safety Officer" on the ground whose entire job is to determine if and when to deploy this self destruct system.' The text I quoted implies there is an onboard flight termination system, even if there is no Range Safety Officer who can send external commands. FWIW, a part from an exploded rocket, like the engine, could still destroy a school bus filled with children. The odds are very hard to estimate, and made more complicated in that there are few failure modes where a rocket failure halfway across a continent, at supersonic speeds, would reach the ground without breaking long before.
      - T0T0R0 10y ago
        Congratulations on replying to me. I'm sure you're feeling good about it. I just wanted to let your know that I noticed, and feel special too.

by cstross 10y ago

ygra 10y ago

All rockets launched in the US have to have one, though :-)

dalke 10y ago

That links to http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2323/1 http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2323/1 where one of the comments is: > Like Russian vehicles, there is no flight termination system that receives ground commands onboard Chinese launch vehicles. Only US and ESA launch sites have such a system. Correction, Falcon 1 did not have such a system for launching on Kwaj.

dogma1138 10y ago
That's because usually the US and ESA/France launch from densely populated areas. The launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center/CC is effectively about 50 mile from downtown Orlando, Baikonur is in the middle of nowhere.
- T0T0R0 10y ago
  Okay, rockets that can go very high, can still crash very far away. An unpredictable, malfunctioning rocket could still million-to-one itself onto a school bus filled with children, halfway across a continent.
  - dalke 10y ago
    Phlarp's original comment was about 'a "Range Safety Officer" on the ground whose entire job is to determine if and when to deploy this self destruct system.' The text I quoted implies there is an onboard flight termination system, even if there is no Range Safety Officer who can send external commands. FWIW, a part from an exploded rocket, like the engine, could still destroy a school bus filled with children. The odds are very hard to estimate, and made more complicated in that there are few failure modes where a rocket failure halfway across a continent, at supersonic speeds, would reach the ground without breaking long before.
    - T0T0R0 10y ago
      Congratulations on replying to me. I'm sure you're feeling good about it. I just wanted to let your know that I noticed, and feel special too.