China launches two rockets after Long March blast

China's Long March 7A rocket exploded less than 90 seconds after liftoff on Aug. 10, destroying the satellite it carried. Six days later, China answered with two more launches in one weekend. A Long March 12 carried new Guowang internet satellites. A Long March 2C carried a satellite for the UAE. Both flew without incident.

The message was speed, not caution. China didn't wait for a full explanation of what went wrong before flying again. That's a real gamble. If the same flaw caused the 7A failure and sits in other rocket families, flying fast could mean flying blind. China hasn't released a cause for the explosion. Its space program is also mid-race with SpaceX.

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Will China explain what actually caused the Aug. 10 explosion, or just keep flying past it? Rocket failures usually come with a public investigation before the same pad or design flies again. Skipping that step buys speed today. It risks a repeat failure tomorrow.