Space programs are a billion dollar affair to start with. And a single mistake means years of research, training, engineering and not to forget, hopes, go down the drain. Crashes during the actual launch are one thing but losing your rocket by accidentally launching it during a test has a certain comical feel to it. A super costly oops moment this.
Such a fate has befallen a 'Chinese SpaceX'. As reported by CNN, a Chinese commercial space company by the name Space Pioneer lost its rocket while it was carrying out a test.
The Tianglong-3 rocket suffered a structural failure and detached from its launch pad, a part of it took off but its ambitious bye-bye to Earth promptly ended when it crashed on a nearby mountain. The crash occured on Sunday (June 30).
Space Pioneer released a statement explaining what went down when the rocket (literally) went down.
It said that connection between the body of the rocket and the test platform failed.
"Due to the structural failure of the connection between the rocket body and the test platform, the first-stage rocket was separated from the launch pad," Space Pioneer said. The firm is also known as Beijing Tianbing Technology.
"After liftoff, the onboard computer was automatically shut down, and the rocket fell into the deep mountains 1.5 kilometers [0.9 miles] southwest of the test platform. The rocket body fell into the mountain and disintegrated."
The company said that there were no injuries due to rocket crash as the area was evacuated before the rocket test.
Not just another rocket
Tianlong-3, the rocket that crashed, was an important cog in China's broader vision of supremacy in space. It was to help in setting up of China's satellite internet network.
As per a claim made by Space Pioneer its rocket is comparable to SpaceX's Falcon-9.
Space Pioneer became China's first commercial launch operator in April 2023 with a successful launch of Tianlong-2.
