Main article: List of Long March rocket launches
China launched its first satellite, known as Dong Fang Hong 1 ("the East is Red"), to Earth orbit on its own Long March space rocket on April 24, 1970, becoming the fifth nation to achieve independent launch capability. Early launches had a spotty record, focusing on launching of Chinese satellites. Since 1990, Long March rocket entered the international market. However, several setbacks occurred during early 1990s. On January 26, 1995, a Long March 2E rocket veered off course two seconds after take-off from Xichang space center and exploded, killing at least six on the ground. On February 14, 1996, a similar failure during the launch of Intelsat 708. The rocket veered severely off course right after clearing the launch tower and crashed in a rural village. Following the disaster, foreign media were sequestered in a bunker for five hours while, some have alleged, the Chinese military attempted to 'clean up' the damage. Officials later blamed the failure on an "unexpected gust of wind"[1]Xinhua News Agency initially reported 6 deaths and 57 injuries. In the aftermath of the explosion, U.S. satellite makers shared information which allowed the Chinese to determine that the problem was in the welds.[2] However, this sharing of information was later deemed illegal by the United States, and U.S. satellite maker Loral Space and Communications was fined $14 million by the U.S. government in 2002, while admitting no wrong-doing.[3]