There is a pretty good reason why they launch rockets over the ocean or large expanses of empty land. If an RSO terminates a flight with a perfectly functional

There is a pretty good reason why they launch rockets over the ocean or large expanses of empty land. If an RSO terminates a flight with a perfectly functional system, the debris will still spread over the surface for some distance, depending on the altitude that the flight was terminated at, of course. Launch trajectories are designed in such a way that the portion where the altitude would allow substantial debris to return is usually placed over uninhabited regions or the ocean.