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China launches heavyweight rocket to challenge SpaceX’s Falcon 9. It fails
Flight anomaly delays ambitions for Tianlong-3 to start delivering satellites for Chinese megaconstellations
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China’s attempt to launch its most powerful privately developed rocket failed on Friday after the vehicle suffered a flight anomaly.
The Tianlong-3 rocket is being developed in hopes of breaking a key bottleneck in the country’s roll-out of internet satellite megaconstellations to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink.
The Tianlong-3, built by Beijing-based start-up Space Pioneer and seen as China’s answer to the US company’s workhorse, the reusable Falcon 9, lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the Gobi Desert at 12.17pm on Friday, according to a social media post by the company.
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An anomaly occurred during the flight, resulting in a launch failure. In the post, Space Pioneer apologised to its partners and said the exact cause of the incident was being investigated.
The company was carrying out rectification work with relevant experts and technical team to “ensure the complete success of subsequent launch missions”, it said.
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The 72-metre (236 feet) tall, 3.8-metre wide rocket, capable of delivering up to 22 tonnes to low Earth orbit, is capable of carrying 36 satellites for the Qianfan broadband megaconstellation in a single launch.
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