Chinese rocket test ends in explosion after lift off

BEIJING: A Chinese rocket crashed Sunday after accidentally being launched during a test.

Chinese commercial company Space Pioneer conducted a static-fire test of the first stage of its Tianlong-3 launch vehicle at a test facility in Gongyi country in Henan province, the Space News website reported.

In a static-fire test, the stage is securely held in place while its engines are ignited to simulate launch conditions, it said.

The nine-engine test stage igniting and taking off, climbing into the sky before halting and returning to Earth.

The stage, which still contained a significant amount of kerosene-liquid oxygen propellant, impacted the ground approximately 50 seconds after takeoff, resulting in a huge explosion.

The Tianlong-3 first stage was designed to burn for several minutes during an actual orbital flight, but the test’s failure has raised concerns about future launches.

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