A Chinese private company’s space rocket crashed and exploded near a city after an accidental launch during a test. The Tianlong-3 rocket’s first stage left its launch pad due to a structural failure, according to a statement from the company, Beijing Tianbing, also known as Space Pioneer. The rocket landed in a hilly area near the city of Gongyi in central China.
Video footage of the incident showed the rocket ascending before losing power, tilting horizontally, and crashing back to the ground, exploding into flames. Fortunately, there were no casualties reported from this unplanned flight. Parts of the rocket stage caused a local fire but were contained within a safe area, as reported by the Gongyi emergency management bureau.
The Tianlong-3 rocket, also known as “Sky Dragon 3,” is a partly reusable rocket being developed by Space Pioneer, one of the many private-sector rocket manufacturers that have emerged in China over the past few years. While falling rocket debris after launches is not uncommon, it is rare for a rocket under development to launch unexpectedly and crash.
The first stage of the Tianlong-3 rocket ignited normally during testing but later detached from the test bench due to the structural failure. The rocket’s design includes multiple stages, with each stage serving a specific purpose in propelling the rocket into space. Space Pioneer claims that the Tianlong-3’s performance is comparable to SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, which also features two stages.
In April 2023, Space Pioneer made history by launching the Tianlong-2, a kerosene-oxygen rocket, becoming the first private Chinese company to send a liquid-propellant rocket into space. The commercial space industry in China has seen significant growth since 2014 when private investment was permitted, with companies focusing on satellite production and reusable rocket development to reduce mission costs.
Many of these companies have test sites along China’s coast for safety reasons, while others, like Space Pioneer, have facilities located deeper inland. Gongyi, where the Tianlong-3 incident occurred, is home to Space Pioneer’s test center and has a population of 800,000 in the central province of Henan. The investigation into the rocket crash is ongoing, and measures will likely be taken to prevent similar accidents in the future.
