BEIJING - China's newest rocket exploded with its Intelsat satellite payload seconds after lift off yesterday, injuring at least 10 people and bruising Beijing's space ambitions.
Hospitals were ordered on alert after the accident near the Xichang space centre and authorities sealed off the area, officials said from the town in south western Sichuan province. The explosion was like an earthquake, said an official, and could be heard 24 miles away.