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4 months ago
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This is the moment a Chinese rocket ship that was accidentally fired soared into the sky before exploding in a huge fireball following its disastrous unplanned lift-off.
The Tianlong-3 rocket, made by spaceflight company Space Pioneer, was seen accidentally lifting off from the city of Gongyi in central China on Sunday during a test run.
The company said that the flight happened 'due to the structural failure of the connection between the rocket body and the test platform', which led to the first-stage rocket leaving the launch pad.
Footage taken on phones show the rocket, designed to be partially reusable, slowly making its way through the air, before its engines fail.
As the engines fail, the craft can be seen tilting heavily. The entire body can then be seen sputtering black smoke as it falls back down to earth on its side.
The Tianlong-3 rocket, made by spaceflight company Space Pioneer, was seen accidentally lifting off from the city of Gongyi in central China on Sunday
The company said that the flight happened 'due to the structural failure of the connection between the rocket body and the test platform'
Footage taken on phones show the rocket, designed to be partially reusable, slowly making its way through the air, before its engines fail
As it hits the ground outside the city of around 790,000, a deafening explosion can be heard as the area around the impact site is consumed by a fireball
As it hits the ground outside the city of around 790,000, a deafening explosion can be heard as the area around the impact site is consumed by a fireball.
A spokesperson for the company told CNN: 'After liftoff, the onboard computer was automatically shut down, and the rocket fell into the deep mountains 0.9 miles southwest of the test platform. The rocket body fell into the mountain and disintegrated.'
They added that no one was injured in the crash, as the people in the area were evacuated well in advance of the test.
The maiden flight of the Tianlong-3 is meant to take place in just three months, and is meant to serve as a low-cost method to deliver payloads to space.
Just last month, the company revealed it had raised $207million (£163.7million) in funding, making it one of China's most well-funded commercial space launch companies.
The company is a keystone in China's so-called 'eternal dream', which president Xi Jinping described as the vision to establish the nation as a dominant space power, amid a new Space Race with countries including the US that have ramped up their own space exploration programmes.
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