The Xichang Satellite Launch Center (XSLC), also known as the Xichang Space Center, is a spaceport of China. It is located in Zeyuan Town (), approximately northwest of Xichang, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan. The facility became operational in 1984 and is used to launch numerous civil, scientific, and military payloads annually. It is notable as the site of Sino-European space cooperation, with the launch of the first of two Double Star scientific satellites in December 2003. Chinese officials have indicated interest in conducting additional international satellite launches from XSLC. In 1996, a fatal accident occurred when the rocket carrying the Intelsat 708 satellite failed on launch from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. Also, a 2007 test of an anti-satellite missile was launched from the center. History China's first crewed space program In order to support the Chinese Project 714 crewed space program in the 1960s, the construction of a new space center at Xichang in the Sichuan province was decided, located farther from the Soviet border, thus safer. The Shuguang One spacecraft was expected to be launched from the launch pad number one. After the cancellation of the program, the launch pad was never completed. Today, a viewing platform for officials has been built at the site. First Long March-2E carrier rocket China launched its first Long March-2E carrier rocket on 16 July 1990, sending into orbit Pakistan's first indigenously developed Badr-1 satellite and HS-601. 1996 Launch accident On 15 February 1996, a fatal accident occurred when the first new Long March 3B heavy carrier rocket carrying Intelsat 708 veered off course 22 seconds after launch, crashing 1200 meters away from the launch pad in a nearby mountain village, destroying 80 homes. According to the official report, six people died and 56 were injured. The number of civilian deaths has been disputed, with estimates of the number of casualties as around a few hundred. China's first successful ASAT test On 11 January 2007, China conducted an anti-satellite missile test with an SC-19 ASAT weapon. A Chinese weather satellite — the FY-1C polar orbit satellite of the Fengyun series, at an altitude of , with a mass of 750 kg — was destroyed by a kinetic kill vehicle. The SC-19 has been described as being based on a modified DF-21 ballistic missile or its commercial derivative, the KT-2 with a Kinetic Kill Vehicle and is fully mobile. Beginning of