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First private Chinese attempt to send rocket into space fails First private Chinese attempt to send rocket into space fails
(about 7 hours later)
The first attempt by a private Chinese company to send a rocket into space has failed. A privately developed Chinese carrier rocket failed to reach orbit after lifting off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre on Saturday, in a blow to the country’s nascent attempts by private companies to rival Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
Beijing-based Landscape said late on Saturday that the first and second stage of its ZQ-1 rocket worked normally but something went wrong with the final of the three-stage rocket. The three-stage rocket, Zhuque-1, was developed by Beijing-based Landspace. The company said in a microblog post after nominal first and second stages that the spacecraft failed to reach orbit as a result of an issue with the third stage.
It was the first three-stage rocket built by a private company in China. “Before Zhuque carrier rocket was launched, its mission was already completed,” the company said in the post on Saturday, without giving further details.
Video posted by a Chinese news site shows the 19-meter-tall red-and-white rocket lifting off against clear blue skies. Landspace was founded in 2015 and soon aimed to be the first Chinese private company to deliver a satellite into orbit. The company said it was the first private licensed company in China to launch carrier rockets.
Landscape said that “cowling separation was normal but something abnormal happened after the second stage”. The statement posted on its social media account did not elaborate. Zhuque-1 was carrying a satellite named “Future” built for state media China Central Television.
Chinese media reports say the rocket was carrying a satellite for state broadcaster CCTV. In May, China launched “Chongqing Liangjiang Star” into space, the first rocket developed by Beijing-based private firm OneSpace Technology. Since coming to office in 2012, President Xi Jinping has made becoming a “space flight superpower” a priority for the government, which has a goal of sending a permanent manned space station into orbit by around 2022.
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