Chinese rocket accidentally blasts off, then crashes

A Chinese rocket launched during testing on Sunday, in central China’s Henan Province.

Chinese rocket surprise … BOOM!

The commercial rocket company Space Pioneer said it was a “structural failure” that caused the accidental launch and dramatic, explosive crash of a Chinese rocket on Sunday, June 30, 2024, near a populated area.

The Tianlong-3 rocket was undergoing a test of its propulsion system, called a “static fire test.” It suddenly lifted off from its testing platform and could be seen climbing over a mountainous area, above the company’s test facility in Gongyi city in central China’s Henan Province. Then its engines faltered, and the rocket began to fall. The liftoff took place at 3:43 p.m. local time on Sunday. SpaceNews.com reported:

Amateur footage captured by Gongyi citizens and posted on Chinese social media shows the nine-engine test stage igntiing and then, exceptionally, taking off. Hold-down clamps and other structures are typically used to securely keep stages in place.

The stage is seen climbing into the sky before halting, apparently with its engines shutting off, and returning to Earth. The stage impacted the ground around 50 seconds after it took off, apparently with much of its kerosene-liquid oxygen propellant remaining, causing a large explosion. The Tianlong-3 first stage would likely fire for a number of minutes on an orbital flight.

Wow. This is apparently what was supposed to be a STATIC FIRE TEST today of a Tianlong-3 first stage by China's Space Pioneer. That's catastrophic, not static. Firm was targeting an orbital launch in the coming months. https://t.co/BY9MgJeE7A pic.twitter.com/L6ronwLW1N

— Andrew Jones (@AJ_FI) June 30, 2024

Bottom line: A Chinese rockets was undergoing a static fire test on Sunday, June 30, 2024, when it suddenly broke free of its hold-down clamps and launched.

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