Uncontrolled launch of Tianlong-3 leads to fiery crash in China

The unintended launch of the Chinese Tianlong-3 heavy-lift rocket ended in disaster. The private company Space Pioneer developed the rocket to reduce the cost of Chinese space missions substantially. However, the uncontrolled launch of one of its stages resulted in an explosion.

The uncontrolled launch of the Tianlong-3 (Heavenly Dragon 3) rocket was most likely the result of an error or unforeseen incident—this occurred during what was supposed to be a static test of the rocket's first-stage engine. Moments after lifting off, the rocket began to descend, crashing within seconds on the hills approximately 1.6 kilometres from Gongyi city in central China.

The entire disaster was recorded on video. According to Chinese sources, the rocket debris fell in an area where it caused no significant damage, and the fire resulting from the accident was quickly extinguished. The Chinese also claim that no one was injured due to the explosion. This is another recent mishap involving a Chinese space rocket—recently, a Long March 2C rocket crashed into a village.

Tianlong-3 is a heavy-lift rocket designed and built by Space Pioneer, a private space sector company. Compared to previously used methods, Tianlong-3 is projected to offer significantly lower costs for space missions, including low-Earth orbit flights and placing objects into sun-synchronous orbits (a solution popular in the meteorological industry, among others).

In the first instance, Tianlong-3 is expected to be capable of carrying up to 17,000 kilograms of payload. For a sun-synchronous orbit of about 500 kilometres, the payload capacity drops to approximately 14,000 kilograms.

Reusing rocket elements plays a crucial role in cost reduction. Similar to SpaceX solutions, the Tianlong is also expected to be able to reuse its second stage.

After launch, this rocket segment is expected to return to Earth, landing vertically. Its design is intended to allow up to 10 module reuses, which contain the most valuable components in the form of nine Tianhuo-12 engines (TH-12) powered by RP-1 (kerosene) and liquid oxygen.

The engines and the individual rocket modules have been successfully tested multiple times. Before the accident, Space Pioneer planned 30 rocket launches per year.