Archive for ‘setback’

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10/04/2020

Chinese Long March-3B rocket fails during launch of Indonesian satellite

  • Malfunction happened during third stage of launch after earlier stages were completed successfully, state media says
  • Failed mission is second in less than a month after Long March-7A encountered problems after lift-off on March 16
A Long March-3B carrier rocket blasts off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in Sichuan province in November. A similar launch on Thursday ended in failure. Photo: Xinhua
A Long March-3B carrier rocket blasts off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in Sichuan province in November. A similar launch on Thursday ended in failure. Photo: Xinhua

China’s space programme suffered another setback on Thursday night with its second rocket launch failure in less than a month.

Officials are investigating what caused a malfunction during the third stage of the Long March-3B launch after lift-off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in southwest Sichuan province at 7.46pm with an Indonesian Palapa-N1 satellite, Xinhua reported.

“The first and second stages of the rocket performed well, but the third stage malfunctioned,” the report said.

“Debris from the third stage of the rocket and the satellite fell [to the ground]. The launch mission failed.”

Debris from the failed mission rained down over Guam on Thursday night. Photo: Twitter
Debris from the failed mission rained down over Guam on Thursday night. Photo: Twitter
China’s state media did not say where the rocket landed, but the office of Guam Homeland Security and Civil Defence said “a fiery object over the Marianas sky” observed on Thursday evening was likely connected to the failed launch.
Video footage of the burning debris falling from the sky was widely circulated on social media.
The setback follows another failed launch on March 16, when China’s new Long March-7A, a three-stage, medium-lift, liquid-fuel rocket, encountered an “abnormality” minutes after lifting off from its launch site in the southern island province of Hainan.
China’s BeiDou system one satellite closer to full operation
11 Mar 2020

The satellite lost on Thursday – the Nusantara 2 – was built in China for Indonesian telecommunication companies Pasifik Satelit Nusantara and Indosat Ooredoo. It was intended to replace an older satellite to provide internet and broadcasting services in Indonesia and across the Asia-Pacific region to Australia, The Jakarta Post reported earlier this month.

It is not known if the failed launch will have an impact on other Long March-3B satellite launches planned for later in the year.

Introduced in 1996, the Long March-3B – also known as the CZ-3B or LM-3B – has been the main orbital carrier rocket of China’s space programme. It was used to carry many of the satellites that make up China’s BeiDou navigation system, with the latest addition being in March.

For that launch, engineers used parachutes to control where the rocket’s boosters would land after being discarded after lift-off so as to minimise the impact on people living below, state media reported.

The latest version of the Long March-3B entered service in 2007 and is dedicated to launching heavy communications satellites of up to 5.5 tonnes into geostationary transfer orbits.

Source: SCMP

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11/12/2018

India state elections: Setback for Modi’s BJP in three key states

Supporters of India's main opposition Congress party celebrate after the initial poll results at the party headquarters in New Delhi, India, December 11, 2018Image copyrightREUTERS
Image captionCongress supporters celebrate initial poll results in Delhi

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his right-wing BJP party appear to be facing a political setback, with swings against it in three key state elections.

The opposition Congress Party looks set to form governments in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, while Madhya Pradesh heads for a photo-finish.

Correspondents say a win for the depleted Congress in at least two states will see it regain credibility.

General elections are due in 2019.

Early results in the central state of Madhya Pradesh put the Congress well ahead, but the BJP has been making a late comeback. It is still unclear which of the parties will eventually form the government there.

However the opposition, headed by Rahul Gandhi, has a clear lead in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, which are former BJP strongholds.

Mr Modi, whose brand of Hindu nationalism helped him come to power in 2014, campaigned aggressively in all three states.

A shot in the arm for the opposition?

Soutik Biswas, BBC News, Delhi

This is the last round of state polls before general elections, which will be held in the next few months.

The Congress’s vastly improved performance in the three key heartland states will help change the perception that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP is invincible, boost the morale of Congress party workers and make it more acceptable to sceptical regional allies in the run-up to general elections. It will also help raise the profile of the Congress leader, Rahul Gandhi, who led a spirited campaign in the three states.

In 2014, the BJP won 62 of the 65 parliamentary seats in these three states.

Tuesday’s performance will be a shot in the arm for the Congress, which has consistently lost state elections since 2014 – the party rules in only two major states.

But state polls are often a poor predictor for the general elections.

It will take a lot more – including a powerful counter narrative and wider voter acceptability – for the Congress to mount a serious challenge to Mr Modi next year.

The good news is that politics in India is beginning to look competitive again.

Election results are also being declared for the southern state of Telangana and the north-eastern state of Mizoram.

Regional parties – the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) and the Mizo National Front (MNF) – are headed for a landslide victory in these states.

Image captionThe regional Telangana Rashtriya Samiti has won a landslide in the southern state

The Congress was widely expected to win in the northern state of Rajasthan, while Madhya Pradesh was always seen as a close contest between the two parties.

But results in Chhattisgarh, where the Congress appears poised to win by a wide margin, have been the most surprising.

“The reason behind the Congress victory is anti-incumbency because people feel that there is a lack of development in most parts of the state despite 15 years of the BJP governing there,” reports BBC Hindi’s Salman Ravi from the state capital Raipur. “Farmers in particular, who have been angry about what they see as a lack of state support for their profession, voted for the Congress in large numbers. People in the state were clearly looking for change this time,”

An anti-incumbency vote against the BJP in the three key states had been predicted, and some analysts point out people vote differently at state and national level.

But the results so far suggest a very visible setback for the BJP, which had steadily increased its state footprint since coming to office in 2014.

And issues of rural discontent – such as unemployment, lack of development and farming distress – are being seen as issues that could affect ballots next year.

BBC Hindi’s Nitin Srivastava who is in Rajasthan, has been posting photos of the starkly different atmospheres at the BJP and Congress party offices in the state.

Posted in India alert, Narendra Modi, setback, state polls, states, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

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