Chinese rocket crashes after accidental launch during ground test

A Space Pioneer rocket crashed after being accidentally launched during a ground test this Sunday (30), as the Chinese company said in a statement.

The crash occurred when the first stage of the Tianlong-3 rocket detached from the launch pad during a test, due to a structural failure. It landed in a mountainous area of ​​the city of Gongyi in central China.

“Due to the structural failure of the connection between the rocket body and the test platform, the first stage rocket separated from the launch pad,” said Space Pioneer, also known as Beijing Tianbing Technology.

“After liftoff, the onboard computer automatically shut down, and the rocket crashed into the deep mountains 1.5 kilometers southwest of the test pad. The rocket body fell into the mountain and disintegrated.”

There were no injuries as a result of the crash, the company said, as people in the area were evacuated before the rocket test.

Wow. This is apparently what was supposed to be a STATIC FIRE TEST today of a Tianlong-3 first stage by China’s Space Pioneer. That’s catastrophic, not static. Firm was targeting an orbital launch in the coming months. pic.twitter.com/L6ronwLW1N

— Andrew Jones (@AJ_FI) June 30, 2024

Space Pioneer, a leading company in the commercial rocket industry, specializes in liquid propellant rockets.

In April 2023, it successfully launched its Tianlong-2, becoming China’s first commercial operator to send a liquid-carrying rocket into space and successfully enter orbit, according to state media.

Tianlong-3, the rocket that crashed this Sunday, is a large liquid-carrying rocket. It was made to help build China’s satellite internet network.

The rocket’s product performance is comparable to SpaceX’s Falcon 9, according to Space Pioneer. The Chinese company will be able to launch the rocket more than 30 times a year after the rocket’s first successful flight.

The accident comes just days after China’s Chang’e-6 lunar lander returned to Earth from space, where it collected the first samples from the far side of the moon.

The mission was an important milestone in China’s “eternal dream” — as articulated by Chinese leader Xi Jinping — of establishing the country as a dominant space power and comes as several countries, including the United States, also step up their own lunar exploration programs. .

*With information from Simone McCarthy, from CNN