--- title: "Chinese Rocket Accidentally Launches During Test, Soars Over City and Crashes Into Mountain" description: "During a test launch, a Chinese company accidentally launched one of its rockets, which crashed spectacularly into a nearby mountain." date: "2024-07-01" modified: "2024-07-01" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/chinese-rocket-accidentally-launches-explodes" categories: - "Off-World" - "Space" tags: - "china" - "rockets" - "SpaceX" - "the digest" --- # Chinese Rocket Accidentally Launches During Test, Soars Over City and Crashes Into Mountain ![During a test launch, a Chinese company accidentally launched one of its rockets, which crashed spectacularly into a nearby mountain.]() *\Image: Han Lu via Weibo\* ## Not So Static During what was supposed to be a static test launch, a private Chinese aerospace company accidentally launched one of its rockets, which crashed spectacularly into a nearby mountain. As [*The Guardian* reports](), the Beijing Tianbing company, also known as Space Pioneer, [admitted on its WeChat channel]() to the explosive error that occurred during a test of its Tianlong-3 rocket in the southwestern city of Gongyi. In a translation of that social media statement, Space Pioneer said that the first stage of the Tianlong-3 test run had been going "normally" when the body of the reusable craft separated unexpectedly due to "structural failure." "After liftoff, the onboard computer automatically shut down, and the rocket fell into a deep mountain 1.5 kilometers \[0.93 miles\] southwest of the test bench," the statement reads. "The rocket body disintegrated after falling into the mountain." As video from [Chinese news outlets]() and [social media]() shows, the rocket landed in a wooded area of the hills surrounding Gongyi. Both the company and local authorities confirmed that nobody was hurt in the incident, though the rocket crash did, per the [Gongyi emergency management service](), cause a forest fire that has since been extinguished. https://www.twitter.com/AJ_FI/status/1807339807640518690 ## Hot Rivalry As [*Business Insider*]() and [other outlets]() note, the two-stage structure of the Tianlong-3 rocket is considered something of a rival to SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket. Both are, for instance, designed to be reusable and both can theoretically take off with a mass of roughly 600 tons — though unlike the Falcon 9, the [Tianlong series]() hasn't been test-launched [hundreds of times]() to make sure things like this don't happen during a legit launch. While SpaceX keeps its test launches to less-inhabited areas of the United States, Space Pioneer chooses, as *The Guardian* points out, to do its testing in a city populated by 800,000 people in the middle of China. That fact, and the entire debacle, makes it pretty lucky that the Tianlong-3 accident didn't cause more damage than a quickly-extinguished forest fire. **More on rockets:** [*Huge Chinese Rocket Parts Fall on Village, Spewing Toxic Chemicals*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()