A Chinese rocket set to launch a satellite into orbit blew up seconds after liftoff on Monday, marking a rare failure for a rocket considered a workhorse of Beijing’s space program.
Details of the Explosion
The Long March 7A rocket erupted into a massive fireball just 85 seconds after blasting off from the Wenchang Space Launch Site on the island of Hainan on Monday night, video showed. State news agency Xinhua confirmed the failure three hours after the launch, saying “the rocket experienced an anomaly during flight.” The cause is under investigation.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk commented on the difficulty of rocket launches, saying “Rockets are insanely hard.” The Long March 7A is a satellite delivery rocket designed by China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
The rocket was carrying the Zhongxing-4B or ChinaSat-4B, to provide radio, television and other communications services to users around the world, according to Chinese state media. Chinese leader Xi Jinping has ambitions to make China a world leader in space science by 2050.
Original reporting: El Paso News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
