‘Hot test’ goes very wrong as China accidentally launches a rocket

We’ve all had bad days at work, but pity the private space company in China that accidentally launched and crashed its rocket during a test gone (very) wrong. 

The Tianlong-3 rocket blasted off from its launch pad before crashing and exploding into flames near a city in central China after the test platform failed to hold it in place during an engine test.

Space Pioneer, also known as Beijing Tianbing, said the rocket unexpectedly launched during a static-fire test at a facility in Gongyi city in the Henan province on Sunday. 

The rocket’s nine engines were fired at 3.43pm local time before it lifted off due to a ‘structural failure at the connection between the rocket body and the test platform’, the company said. 

Luckily, there were no injuries as a result of the crash as people in the area were evacuated in advance of the test. However, video footage showed the rocket soaring high into the air before it lost power and turned horizontally. 

The rocket then plummeted back to Earth where it exploded into flames on nearby forested hills. 

Space Pioneer said there were no injuries (Picture: Weibo/Twitter)

‘After liftoff, the onboard computer automatically shut down, and the rocket fell into a deep mountain 1.5 kilometres southwest of the test bench,’ Space Pioneer said. 

‘The rocket body disintegrated after falling into the mountain.’ 

Space Pioneer, which is a leading company in the commercial rocket sphere, specialises in liquid-propellant rockets. It is one of several private aerospace companies developing a medium-lift reusable rocket in China to help create the country’s own satellite constellation – like SpaceX’s Starlink.

The Tianyong-3 rocket is projected to be able to deliver 17 tonnes to Earth’s low orbit, and the company said that it is similar in design and performance to SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. It was supposed to launch later this year, according to China Daily. 

The rocket exploded into flames in the mountains (Picture: Twitter/ Weibo)

But that might not work out now.

The company said the rocket generated a combined thrust of 820 tonnes during a test, and according to the firm the first stage of the Tianlong-3 ignited normally.

But Space Pioneer has enjoyed some big successes before Sunday’s snafu – in April 2023, it launched the Tianlong-2 to became the first private Chinese firm to send a liquid-propellant rocket into space.