2nd rocket launch fails in China since last month

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) - A rocket launch failed in China on Thursday, the second time since last month.

The commercial launch vehicle Hyperbola-1 of i-Space lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China's Inner Mongolia region but “unfortunately, the flight encountered anomalies, resulting in the failure of the test mission,” the daily Global Times reported.

“Detailed analysis is underway in order to determine the specific causes of the failure,” it added.

On June 30, a Chinese rocket crashed after accidentally being launched during a test.

The Chinese commercial company Space Pioneer had conducted what was supposed to be a static-fire test of the Tianlong-3 launch vehicle at a test facility in the Gongyi county of the Henan province.

However, the nine-engine test stage ignited and took off, climbing into the sky and abruptly halting before shooting down to Earth, emitting huge smoke and lights.