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China’s Space Pioneer blames massive rocket-test crash on structural failure


Company says kerosene-liquid oxygen-propelled rocket launched unexpectedly and crashed in hills, with no casualties.

Space Pioneer, also known as Beijing Tianbing Technology, said the Tianlong-3 rocket unexpectedly launched during a static-fire test at a facility in Gongyi county in Henan province. Residents in flats in the county-level city of Gongyi posted footage online showing the rocket climbing into the sky, leaving a trail of thick smoke before falling back to the ground on its side. Space Pioneer is one of a number of private aerospace companies that are developing medium-lift, reusable rockets to help China assemble its own satellite constellations comparable to SpaceX’s Starlink.

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