Crash and Burn in China: Tianlong-3 Seen Exploding in a Fireball

An experimental Chinese rocket's launch ended up more like a massive New Year's fireworks display on Sunday. The first stage of a Tianlong-3 rocket inadvertently detached from its launch pad briefly took to the skies and then came down outside the city of Gongyi in central China. The rocket, which was undergoing a ground test, was engulfed in a gigantic fireball.

"Due to the structural failure of the connection between the rocket body and the test platform, the first-stage rocket was separated from the launch pad," Space Pioneer, also known as Beijing Tianbing Technology (BTT), said in a media statement, reported by CNN. "After liftoff, the onboard computer was automatically shut down, and the rocket fell into the deep mountains 1.5 kilometers [0.9 miles] southwest of the test platform. The rocket body fell into the mountain and disintegrated."

There were no injuries reported, but Sunday's mishap is already being seen as a major setback for the privately-owned Chinese firm, which was on track for an orbital launch in the coming months.

According to Newsweek, the rocket was undergoing a static fire test, which was meant to check the performance of the fully assembled rocket. Such tests can identify any issues before an actual flight. There was clearly an issue, and the results were catastrophic, one that will likely set back the entire program.

"Wow. This is apparently what was supposed to be a STATIC FIRE TEST today of a Tianlong-3 first stage by China's Space Pioneer. That's catastrophic, not static. Firm was targeting an orbital launch in the coming months," wrote SpaceNews.com reporter Andrew Jones on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, who shared images of the crash.

The Sky Dragon Crashed and Burned

The Tianlong-3 (Sky Dragon 3) was developed to aid Beijing in its deployment of its satellite Internet network. It has been compared to the SpaceX Falcon 9. The partly reusable rocket was developed by Space Pioneer, which is one of just a handful of Chinese private-sector rocket makers to emerge in the past decade after Beijing allowed private investment in the industry. A number of the firms have focused on developing satellites while Space Pioneer's efforts have been directed toward reusable rockets that could cut mission costs.

While many of China's space launches are conducted near the coastal area for safety reasons, Space Pioneer's facility is located in the nation's interior in the central province of Henan near the city of Gongyi, which is home to nearly 800,000 people. It is unclear if such launches will continue, given the potential risk as noted by Sunday's accident.

China – The Future Masters of Space?

Despite the failure, it won't set back Beijing's efforts to reach the heavens and beyond. As CNN also reported, the accident involving the Tianlong-3 came just days after the Chang'e-6 lunar module successfully returned to Earth, where craft had collected samples from the far side of the moon for the first time.

These space missions are just one part of China's so-called "eternal dream" to become a dominant world power after its so-called "century of humiliation" that began with the First Opium War in the middle of the 19th century. Part of the ongoing effort was led by Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who called for his nation to become a leader in space exploration, and even a "space superpower by 2045."

U.S. analysts have warned Beijing's space program already dwarfs U.S. efforts. Sunday's accident may simply serve as a reminder that great leaps forward sometimes have met with small steps backward.

Author Experience and Expertise: Peter Suciu

Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: Editor@nationalinterest.org.

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