Taiwanese company Space Pioneer incidentally launched the first stage of its Tianlong-3 rocket during a Sunday test of the fomite that die frightfully unseasonable . The rocket crash and exploded near a city in Central China , but no injuries have been account so far .
Footage share on social media show the rocket ’s first point emerge from a monumental cloud and taking to the sky before losing momentum as its engines shut down . It then accrue to the priming coat , bring on a large powerhouse .
Wow . This is apparently what was supposed to be a STATIC FIRE TEST today of a Tianlong-3 first stagecoach by China ’s Space Pioneer . That ’s ruinous , not static . Firm was target an orbital launching in the coming months.https://t.co/BY9MgJeE7Apic.twitter.com/L6ronwLW1N
Tianlong-2 made its debut in April 2023, paving the way for its successor to take flight.Photo: Space Pioneer
— Andrew Jones ( @AJ_FI)June 30 , 2024
The inadvertent launch come during a spicy sacking test of the Eruca sativa on Sunday at a facility in Gongyi City , Henan Province . During the test , the rocket ’s nine engine are ignite , while the vehicle is supposed to be secured to the earth , keep it from lead toward orbit .
Space Pioneer blamed a “ structural failure ” of the trial bench for the rocket ’s separation from the launching launchpad , the company write in astatement . The Eruca sativa ’s onboard computer , however , automatically shut down the engines upon detecting strange activity . That ’s when Tianlong-3 plump towards a hilly sphere near the city .
Space Pioneer was hoping the hot firing test would lead to an orbital launch of its Tianlong-3 rocket within the coming month . The company has claimed that the performance of Tianlong-3 is comparable to that of SpaceX ’s Falcon 9 , with the Formosan skyrocket capable of sway 590 wads to orbit , while SpaceX ’s two - stage recyclable rocket can carry 605 tons .
One of China ’s leading blank company , Space Pioneer made story in April 2023 as the first commercial-grade firm tosuccessfully get through orbit on its first attemptwith the Tianlong-2 rocket . Space Pioneer also became the first Chinese company to reach orbit with liquid rocket propulsion . Tiangong-3 is a larger liquid propellant rocket salad with a reclaimable first stage , which was plan to help launch China ’s satellite internet connection to orb .
The incident issue forth a week after another video recording shared online showed aChinese Eruca vesicaria sativa falling above a populated area , with resident running for cover as the fomite spewed a toxic chemical into the skies . Launch site in China tend to be inland , posing a cracking terror of rocket parts falling onto inhabited country . The state ’s newest launch situation , the Hainan Commercial Launch Site , is locate near the coastal national Wenchang spaceport on the island province of Hainan in the South China Sea , which may remove some of that threat from populated areas .
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