Commercial space efforts are advancing globally, and China’s Space Pioneer is no exception. On Sunday, the company conducted a short-duration test of its reusable rocket engine, which ended in a dramatic explosion. According to Space News, the test “ended in catastrophic failure and a dramatic explosion.”
Amateur footage captured by residents of Gongyi and shared on Chinese social media shows the nine-engine test stage igniting and unexpectedly taking off. Typically, hold-down clamps and other structures are used to keep stages securely in place. However, in this instance, the stage climbed into the sky before halting, apparently due to engine shutdown, and then returned to Earth. The stage impacted the ground around 50 seconds after takeoff, with much of its kerosene-liquid oxygen propellant still intact, causing a large explosion.
The Tianlong-3 first stage is designed to fire for several minutes during an orbital flight. Space Pioneer was conducting this test as a precursor to an orbital launch of the Tianlong-3, which is benchmarked against SpaceX’s Falcon 9, in the coming months. Earlier this month, the company announced it had secured $207 million in new funding.
Shanghai-based digital newspaper The Paper reported that Henan officials confirmed no casualties were reported. Space Pioneer later issued a statement explaining that there was a structural failure at the connection between the rocket body and the test bench. The rocket’s onboard computer automatically shut down the engines, causing the rocket to fall 1.5 kilometers southwest. The company reiterated that no casualties were found and noted that the test produced 820 tons of thrust.
The article speculates on whether this event will delay the development of the rocket or the planned launches for a Chinese megaconstellation of satellites. Space Pioneer stated it would conduct an analysis and restart testing with new hardware as soon as possible.
In a related incident, a Chinese launch of the joint Sino-French SVOM mission to study Gamma-ray bursts early Saturday resulted in toxic rocket debris falling over a populated area. SVOM is a collaboration between the China National Space Administration (CNSA) and France’s Centre national d’études spatiales (CNES). The mission aims to study high-energy electromagnetic radiation from these events in the X-ray and gamma-ray ranges using two French and two Chinese-developed science payloads. Studying gamma-ray bursts, thought to be caused by the death of massive stars or collisions between stars, could provide answers to key questions in astrophysics, including the death of stars and the creation of black holes.
However, the launch of SVOM also created an explosion closer to home. A video posted on Chinese social media site Sina Weibo appears to show a rocket booster falling on a populated area, with people running for cover. The booster fell to Earth near Guiding County, Qiandongnan Prefecture in Guizhou province, according to another post.
Several comments on the video noted the danger posed by the hypergolic propellant from the Long March rocket. The Long March 2C uses a toxic, hypergolic mix of nitrogen tetroxide and unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH). Reddish-brown gas or smoke from the booster could indicate nitrogen tetroxide, while a yellowish gas could result from hydrazine fuel mixing with air. Contact with either remaining fuel or oxidizer from the rocket stage could be very harmful to individuals.
Falling rocket debris is a common issue with China’s launches from its three inland launch sites. Authorities are understood to issue warnings and evacuation notices for areas calculated to be at risk from launch debris, reducing the risk of injuries.
Passant Rabie reports via Gizmodo that a video circulating online appears to show debris from a Chinese rocket falling above a populated area, with residents running for cover as a heavy cloud of dark yellow smoke trails across the sky in a frightening scene. The suspected debris may have come from China’s Long March 2C rocket, which launched on Saturday, June 22, carrying a joint mission by China and France to study Gamma-ray bursts. The launch was declared a success, but its aftermath was captured by videos posted to Chinese social media sites.
The videos show what appears to be the first stage rocket booster of the Long March 2C rocket tumbling uncontrollably over a village in southwest China, while local residents cover their ears and run for shelter from the falling debris. There are no reports of injuries or damage to property. However, unverified video and images show a gigantic cloud erupting at the site of the crashed rocket, and the booster itself seemingly next to a roadway. The first stage of the rocket can be seen leaking fuel, the color of which is consistent with nitrogen tetroxide. The chemical compound is a strong oxidizing agent used for rocket propulsion but can be fatally toxic, according to Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center.
“It’s known in the rocket industry as BFRC, a big fucking red cloud,” McDowell told Gizmodo. “And when you see a BFRC, you run for your life.” Nitrogen tetroxide was accepted as the rocket propellant oxidizer of choice in the early 1950s by the U.S.S.R. and the United States. However, it became less commonly used over the years because it is extremely toxic, according to NASA. If it comes in contact with skin, eyes, or the respiratory system, it can destroy human tissue, and if inhaled through the lungs, it can lead to a buildup of fluids or, in extreme cases, death.
“It’s pretty scary, but this is just how the Chinese do business,” McDowell told Gizmodo. “They have a different level of acceptable public risk.” “I think over a 10-year period, we may see the older rockets phased out, but they’re not in any hurry to do so,” added McDowell. “They’re still launching one a week or something like that, and they are really quite dangerous.”
Source: Space News, The Paper, Gizmodo
