Tianlong-3 rocket explosion: Setback for China's space ambitions

The unplanned launch of the Chinese Tianlong-3 heavy-lift rocket ended in disaster. Developed by the private company Space Pioneer, the missile was intended to significantly reduce the cost of Chinese space missions. 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 an accidental occurrence—it happened 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 into the hills approximately 1.6 kilometres from Gongyi, a city in central China.

The entire disaster was recorded on video. According to Chinese sources, the rocket debris fell in an area that caused no significant damage, and the fire caused by the accident was quickly extinguished. Chinese officials also claim that no one was injured due to the explosion. This is another recent accident 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 solutions, Tianlong-3 is expected 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 case, Tianlong-3 is expected to be capable of carrying up to 17,200 kilograms of payload. For a sun-synchronous orbit of about 500 kilometres, the payload capacity drops to approximately 14,100 kilograms.

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

After launch, this rocket element is expected to return to Earth, landing vertically on its surface. 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 had planned 30 rocket launches per year.