China's Tianlong-3 space rocket explodes after accidental launch
A space rocket named Tianlong-3 or "Sky Dragon 3," owned by Beijing Tianbing Technology Co, also known as Space Pioneer, accidentally launched and exploded near Gongyi city in central China. The mishap occurred on Sunday when the first stage of the Tianlong-3 inadvertently ignited during a test and later detached due to a structural failure. According to Space Pioneer's official WeChat account, the rocket landed in a hilly area of Gongyi.
Rocket crash triggers fire, no casualties reported
Video footage from Chinese digital media outlet The Paper showed the rocket ascending before losing power and crashing into nearby forested hills, causing an explosion. Space Pioneer's initial investigation revealed no casualties from the unplanned flight. Parts of the rocket were scattered within a "safe area," igniting a local fire which has since been extinguished, as per Gongyi's emergency management bureau.
Take a look at the video footage
Tianlong-3 rocket's unplanned flight: A rare occurrence
The Tianlong-3 is a two-stage partly reusable rocket under development by Space Pioneer. While falling rocket debris post-launch in China is not uncommon, an unplanned flight from a test site resulting in a crash is very rare. Space Pioneer claims that the performance of Tianlong-3 is comparable to SpaceX's Falcon 9, another two-stage rocket. In April 2023, Space Pioneer made history by launching a kerosene-oxygen rocket, Tianlong-2, becoming the first private Chinese firm to send a liquid-propellant rocket into space.
Chinese commercial space companies are expanding rapidly
Since 2014, when private investment in the space industry was permitted by the state, Chinese commercial space companies have surged into the sector. Many have started manufacturing satellites while others, like Space Pioneer, are focusing on developing reusable rockets to significantly reduce mission costs. These test sites of these companies are typically located along China's coastal areas for safety reasons, but some, including Space Pioneer's test center, are situated deep within the country's interior.
