Chinese Rocket Destroyed After Launch Failure

China’s space mission ended in failure on Monday following an anomaly shortly after launch from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in the southern island province of Hainan. Authorities are investigating the cause of the incident.

The Long March 7A rocket lifted off at 8:02 p.m. local time carrying the ChinaSat-4B satellite.

According to Jonathan McDowell of Durham University, footage shows that the rocket was completely destroyed at relatively low altitude and speed. Neither the satellite nor the debris reached orbit.

It was the first failure involving this type of rocket since its maiden flight in March 2020. Following that failure, the Long March 7A successfully returned to service a year later and completed more than a dozen successful launches.

The incident could lead to inspections of other Chinese missions if investigators uncover problems involving shared components, manufacturing or operations at the spaceport.

China is also preparing for the Chang’e 7 lunar mission at Wenchang. The mission is scheduled to explore the Moon’s south pole in the second half of 2026. It will use a larger and different rocket, the Long March 5.

(Reuters, bak)