BEIJING (Reuters) – Beijing Tianbing Technology Co said on Sunday the first stage of its Tianlong-3 development rocket had become 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 Beijing, China.
After an initial investigation, there have been no reports of casualties, 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, a separate statement from the Gongyi Emergency Management Office said.
The fire has now been extinguished and no one was injured, the agency said.
The two-stage Tianlong-3 (“Sky Dragon 3”) is a partially reusable rocket being developed by Space Pioneer, one of a small group of fast-growing private sector rocket manufacturers over the past five years.
Missile debris falling in China after launches is not unheard of, but it is very rare for part of a rocket under development to make an unplanned flight from the test site and crash.
According to Space Pioneer, the Tianlong-3’s first stage ignited normally during a hot test, but later separated from the test stand due to a structural failure and landed in a hilly area 1.5 km (0.9 mi) away.
According to Space Pioneer, Tianlong-3’s performance is comparable to that of SpaceX’s Falcon 9.
In April 2023, Space Pioneer launched a kerosene-oxygen rocket, the Tianlong-2, becoming the first Chinese private company to send a liquid-fueled rocket into space.
Chinese commercial space companies have entered the sector en masse since 2014, when private investment in the industry was allowed by the state.
Many started making satellites, while others, including Space Pioneer, focused on developing reusable rockets that can significantly reduce mission costs.
For safety reasons, the test locations of such companies are located along the Chinese coastal areas, located by the sea.
However, some are also located deep inland, such as Space Pioneer’s test center in Gongyi, a city of 800,000 in the central province of Henan.
(Reporting by Ryan Woo and Ellen Zhang; Editing by Gareth Jones and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
