On Sunday, June 30, Beijing Tianbing Technology Co., also known as Space Pioneer, conducted a test of the Tianlong-3 rocket. However, it unexpectedly malfunctioned. The first stage of the rocket ignited normally, but then shot out of the test stand due to a structural failure, the company said in an official statement on WeChat.
Chinese missile accident. Crashed after an unscheduled take-off
The rocket crashed about 1.5 km from the launch site, in the hilly area of the city of Gongyi in central China, with a population of 800,000, it says. Parts of the machine were supposed to come down in a “safe area”. “After launch, the on-board computer was automatically turned off and the rocket fell into the deep mountains 1.5 kilometers southwest of the test platform. The rocket body fell into the mountains and disintegrated,” we read in the company’s announcement quoted by American television.
The Gongyi City Emergency Management Office reported that there was a local fire that was quickly extinguished. No one was injured. Residents of the surrounding areas were evacuated before the tests began.
What is the Tianlong-3 rocket? The creators compared it to Space X’s Falcon 9
Commercial space companies began to emerge in China only after 2014, when the state allowed private investment in the industry. At that time, many of the newly established companies focused on satellite production. Space Pioneer, on the other hand, focused on developing reusable rockets that can significantly reduce mission costs. In 2023, the company successfully launched the Tianlong-2 kerosene-oxygen rocket, making it the first private Chinese company to send a liquid-fuel rocket into space.
The successor of Tianlong-2 is Tianlong-3. It is a two-stage spacecraft designed to send cargo into orbit relatively cheaply. It is powered by nine rocket engines powered by liquid oxygen and kerosene. The first flight is scheduled for July 2024, but it is possible that Sunday’s events may change these plans. The creators of Tianlong-3 claim that their rocket will have capabilities similar to Space X’s Falcon 9.
Source: Gazeta
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