Chinese space rocket crashes in fiery explosion after launching accidentally
A Chinese aerospace company said the first stage of a rocket under development had detached from its launch pad and landed in a hilly area in central China.
BEIJING — Beijing Tianbing Technology said Sunday that the first stage of its Tianlong-3 rocket under development had detached from its launch pad during a test due to structural failure and landed in a hilly area of the city of Gongyi in central China.
There were no reports of casualties after an initial investigation, Beijing Tianbing, also known as Space Pioneer, said in a statement on its official WeChat account.
Parts of the rocket stage were scattered within a “safe area” but caused a local fire, according to a separate statement by the Gongyi emergency management bureau.
The fire has since been extinguished and no one has been hurt, the bureau said.
The two-stage Tianlong-3 (“Sky Dragon 3”) is a partly reusable rocket under development by Space Pioneer, one of a small group of private-sector rocket makers that have grown rapidly over the past five years.
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