The first stage of a private Chinese company’s Tianlong-3 rocket broke away from its launch pad during a test on Sunday, June 30. The rocket crashed into hills near the city of Gongyi.
A test that turned into a disaster. The first stage of the Tianlong-3 rocket, produced by the private Chinese company Space Pioneer, detached from its launch pad and crashed into the surrounding hills on Sunday, June 30.
According to Space Pioneer, which pointed to a “structural failure”, the incident was due to poor mounting and too much thrust from the engines. The first stage of the rocket therefore left its launch zone accidentally.
No injuries
In published videos of the incident, the rocket is seen rising into the air, before becoming horizontal and falling, then crashing into the hills near the town of Gongyi.
The crash caused a massive fire, but the rocket pieces landed in a “safe area,” the Gongyi emergency management office said. The fire has been extinguished and no injuries were reported.
China invests in space
Under the presidency of Xi Jinping, China has significantly developed its space programs, injecting billions of dollars into this sector in order to catch up with the American and Russian leaders.
It has already recorded several successes, notably the construction of the Tiangong (“Heavenly Palace”) space station where a new crew of three astronauts was sent in April. China also landed a rover (a small motorized “rover”) on Mars. It is also the third country in the world to have sent a human into space on its own.
