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Business Standard
15-07-2025
- Science
- Business Standard
China's Tianlong-3 rocket cleared for commercial launch a year after crash
One year after a rocket accident setback China's commercial space industry, Beijing-based Space Pioneer has completed a critical test of its redesigned Tianlong-3, the South China Morning Post reported on Tuesday. The company, known as Beijing Tianbing Technology, this week announced that it had wrapped up a full-scale ground test simulating flight conditions using Tianlong-3's first stage, which houses nine liquid-fuel engines generating nearly 900 tonnes of thrust. The structure, the firm confirmed, passed all evaluations without incident — a milestone following last year's highly publicised failure. Chinese rocket crash after accidental launch On June 30, 2024, a static-fire test in Gongyi, Henan province, turned into an unplanned launch when the rocket's first stage detached from its test stand due to structural failure. The vehicle lifted off briefly before crashing into the nearby mountains, disintegrating on impact. 'Due to the structural failure of the connection between the rocket body and the test platform, the first-stage rocket was separated from the launch pad,' the company said at the time. The rocket landed roughly 1.5 kilometres away. No injuries were reported, as the surrounding areas had been cleared in advance. Videos of the crash quickly went viral. While early statements attributed the failure to faulty platform connections, internal investigations later identified a more serious design flaw: a weak tail section, which bears the full brunt of vertical thrust, lateral stress, engine vibrations, and potential landing forces. Over 100 design fixes implemented In the year since the incident, Space Pioneer has rolled out more than 100 upgrades to the rocket's design and testing regimen. These include reinforced structures, new backup safety systems, improved diagnostics and telemetry, and 13 additional ground tests. The redesign focused especially on strengthening the engine mounting section and improving load distribution during high-stress flight phases. The test success positions Tianlong-3 for its long-delayed debut flight, tentatively scheduled between July and August 2025, according to earlier announcements made during an aerospace expo in Shanghai this past April. Tianlong-3 designed to rival SpaceX's Falcon 9 With its capacity to carry 17-tonne payload to low-Earth orbit and 14-tonne capability to sun-synchronous orbit, Tianlong-3 is engineered to compete directly with SpaceX's Falcon 9. It is also designed for rapid reusability, with a stated goal of supporting up to 30 launches per year. Before this, the Tianlong-2 had become China's first commercial liquid carrier space shuttle to successfully enter orbit in April 2023. Tianlong-2 was also the world's first liquid carrier rocket to use coal-based space kerosene as fuel. A variant known as Tianlong-3M is under development, envisioned for ultra-fast, suborbital transport and future crewed missions.
South China Morning Post
15-07-2025
- Science
- South China Morning Post
China's Tianlong-3 rocket passes critical stress test a year after explosive mishap
A year after its rocket accidentally lifted off and then crashed during a test, Beijing-based start-up Space Pioneer has redesigned the vehicle and shown that it can withstand the intense forces of launch. In a recent ground-based test in central China, the company used the rocket's nine-engine first stage – which produces nearly 900 tonnes of thrust combined – to simulate key mission phases, including fuelling, lift-off, flight and recovery. The structure held up under all test conditions, the company said on its social media account on Friday. 02:14 Private Chinese space rocket crashes and explodes after accidental launch during test Private Chinese space rocket crashes and explodes after accidental launch during test On June 30 last year, the company conducted a static-fire test with the first stage of its new Tianlong-3 rocket in Gongyi, a city of about 800,000 people in Henan province. The rocket was supposed to remain anchored during the test, but instead lifted off unexpectedly and crashed in a hilly area nearby, creating a massive fireball that was captured on video by onlookers. While Space Pioneer had previously blamed the crash on a ' structural failure between the rocket and the test stand', it has since added that the incident was the direct result of the weak design of the rocket's tail section. Space Pioneer said the rocket's tail section – where all nine engines are mounted – must endure enormous stress during ignition. It also has to handle a wide range of forces throughout the mission, from standing upright in high winds and bearing the rocket's full weight to the shaking and bending of ascent, and the impact of landing during reuse.
