Chinese LM-7A Rocket Fails
China experienced a launch failure today of their relatively new Long March 7A rocket. Introduced in 2020, the first launch failed, but the track record since then has been perfect. The cause is under investigation.
Videos of the launch posted on X show the vehicle exploding soon after launch from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Hainan Island.
Jonathan McDowell of Jonathan’s Space Report told SpacePolicyOnline.com there appeared to be a structural failure when the rocket reached maximum dynamic pressure or MaxQ. The cause is under investigation, but could have implications for future launches especially if it’s a design issue.
The LM-7 is used primarily to send Tianzhou cargo missions to China’s Tiangong space station and the 7A version launches satellites, including military satellites, to geostationary transfer orbit. Since the original failure in 2020, it’s had more than a dozen successes.
Today’s launch was of ChinaSat-4B. The South China Morning Post said the explosion happened just 90 seconds after liftoff at 8:00 pm Beijing Time and images “apparently taken from long-wave infrared tracking footage of the launch appeared to show the rocket snapping near its upper section moments before it was destroyed.”
SCMP added that the satellite was to provide communications services, and satellites in the series with low numbers are thought to be for military purposes.
Whether the failure will have any impact on China’s plans to launch the Chang’e-7 robotic mission to the Moon’s South Pole later this month is unclear. Chang’e-7 will launch on a different rocket, Long March 5, but the LM-5 Solid Rocket Boosters use the same engines as LM-7A.
User Comments
SpacePolicyOnline.com has the right (but not the obligation) to monitor the comments and to remove any materials it deems inappropriate. We do not post comments that include links to other websites since we have no control over that content nor can we verify the security of such links.