Beijing, A new Chinese rocket company has suffered another launch failure, resulting in the loss of three satellites as part of a commercial constellation being assembled for global weather forecasting and earthquake prediction.
Hyperbola-1, a 24-meter-tall solid-fuel rocket produced by iSpace, lifted off on Thursday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China's Gobi Desert.
"The first, second and third stages of the rocket flew normally, but the fourth stage suffered an anomaly and the launch mission ended in failure," the company said, adding that the specific reasons for the failure will be announced as soon as possible after investigations. detailed. , the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported on Friday.
The relatively small Hyperbola-1, which can carry a 300 kg (661 lb) payload into a 500 km (311 mi) sun-synchronous orbit, was carrying Yunyao-1 weather satellites 15, 16 and 17 for Yunyao Aerospace, headquartered in Tianjin. Technology company. The satellites did not reach orbit.
Yunyao Aerospace Technology had planned to launch about 40 satellites this year to complete its 90-satellite Yunyao-1 constellation next year, according to the Post report.
“Our constellation will break a foreign monopoly and provide high-resolution, high-precision, full-scale earthquake early warning and weather monitoring services to Belt and Road Initiative countries,” a Yunyao Aerospace representative told Tianjin Daily. in January.
In 2019, iSpace became China's first private rocket company to reach Earth orbit with Hyperbola-1. But since then, the rocket has failed three consecutive times. Problems range from damage to a first-stage rudder fin from falling insulating foam to a fuel leak in the second-stage altitude control system.
Earlier this month, a powerful Chinese rocket crashed after an “accidental launch” during a ground test due to a structural failure, its company Space Pioneer said.
Space Pioneer, also known as Beijing Tianbing Technology, said the Tianlong-3 rocket was unexpectedly launched during a static fire test at a facility in Gongyi county in Henan province on July 1.
The nine engines of the rocket, considered the most powerful in the country, were fired and lifted off due to a "structural failure in the connection between the rocket body and the test platform," the company said.
Space Pioneer is one of several private aerospace companies that are developing reusable medium-lift rockets to help China assemble its own satellite constellations comparable to SpaceX's Starlink.
Hyperbola-1, a 24-meter-tall solid-fuel rocket produced by iSpace, lifted off on Thursday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China's Gobi Desert.
"The first, second and third stages of the rocket flew normally, but the fourth stage suffered an anomaly and the launch mission ended in failure," the company said, adding that the specific reasons for the failure will be announced as soon as possible after investigations. detailed. , the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported on Friday.
The relatively small Hyperbola-1, which can carry a 300 kg (661 lb) payload into a 500 km (311 mi) sun-synchronous orbit, was carrying Yunyao-1 weather satellites 15, 16 and 17 for Yunyao Aerospace, headquartered in Tianjin. Technology company. The satellites did not reach orbit.
Yunyao Aerospace Technology had planned to launch about 40 satellites this year to complete its 90-satellite Yunyao-1 constellation next year, according to the Post report.
“Our constellation will break a foreign monopoly and provide high-resolution, high-precision, full-scale earthquake early warning and weather monitoring services to Belt and Road Initiative countries,” a Yunyao Aerospace representative told Tianjin Daily. in January.
In 2019, iSpace became China's first private rocket company to reach Earth orbit with Hyperbola-1. But since then, the rocket has failed three consecutive times. Problems range from damage to a first-stage rudder fin from falling insulating foam to a fuel leak in the second-stage altitude control system.
Earlier this month, a powerful Chinese rocket crashed after an “accidental launch” during a ground test due to a structural failure, its company Space Pioneer said.
Space Pioneer, also known as Beijing Tianbing Technology, said the Tianlong-3 rocket was unexpectedly launched during a static fire test at a facility in Gongyi county in Henan province on July 1.
The nine engines of the rocket, considered the most powerful in the country, were fired and lifted off due to a "structural failure in the connection between the rocket body and the test platform," the company said.
Space Pioneer is one of several private aerospace companies that are developing reusable medium-lift rockets to help China assemble its own satellite constellations comparable to SpaceX's Starlink.
