Loss of Brazil satellite deals setback to China space ambitions
Earth-observation unit built by China and Brazil fails to reach orbit after rocket malfunctions
An earth-observation satellite developed jointly by China and Brazil failed to reach orbit yesterday after its rocket malfunctioned on ascent, dealing a setback to China's ambitious space programme.
The Long March 4B rocket blasted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre in Shanxi province at 11.25am, but malfunctioned on its way through the atmosphere, Xinhua reported. It marked the first launch failure of the 4B since the model entered service in 1999.
Chinese and Brazilian experts were still analysing the cause of the failure, Xinhua reported, without elaborating.
The last time a Long March model malfunctioned was in August 2011, when a 2C rocket failed while carrying a military satellite into space.
The failure came at the same time the country was preparing to land its first lunar rover on the moon. The rover - Yutu, or Jade Rabbit - was launched last week and is due to land on the moon on Saturday.
The China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite (CBERS) - the fourth in a series of satellites - has been classified as lost.
Brazil's National Institute for Space Research said in a statement last night that "there was a failure of the launcher during the flight and consequently the satellite was not positioned in the planned orbit".
