China's Space Program Thread II

[escobar]

Very sad. How do they manage to screw up a static test this badly? Would not be surprised if the state does a huge crackdown on SP or the commercial industry as a whole.
But All 9 engines successfully ran for 30s and had a successful shutdown, it's just that it flew and it flew well. Hope no one was hurt and that SP can go on with development.

 

[escobar]

Space Pionner issued the incident report:

During the test run, the first-stage rocket ignited normally, and the engine thrust reached 820 tons. Due to structural failure at the connection between the rocket body and the test bench, the first-stage rocket separated from the launch pad. After liftoff, the onboard computer automatically shut down, and the rocket fell into a deep mountain 1.5 kilometers southwest of the test bench. The rocket body disintegrated after falling into the mountain. The test site is far away from the urban area of Gongyi. Before the test, we worked with the local government to improve safety measures and organize the evacuation of surrounding personnel in advance. After investigation, no casualties were found.

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[ACuriousPLAFan]

Imagine that "static test" rocket flew in the general direction of the cameraman instead of the other way around, and then crashed right in that populated area. The casualties would be catastrophic.

How could such low-level errors be allowed to even happen in the first place? Some heads in that company (and even some in CNSA who gave this test the go-ahead) will have to roll.

 

[ACuriousPLAFan]

That's what I mean by the "static" part of the test not happening lol

I imagine there is probably a bit of useful data they can claw from it, assuming the company doesn't go out of business or get shut down for this

The test actually goes waaaay beyond expectations lmfao

In the meantime, it'd probably be better if some heads in that company (and whoever's responsible for designing, building and certifying that test stage) get axed while keeping the overall program ongoing. The subjects meant to be tested (i.e. the engines) did function largely as expected.

Besides, perhaps the CNSA should roll out new requirements, such that in case such "static test" rocket escaped from its test stage, there must be a self-destruct function onboard that would automatically detonate the rocket before it ever higher off the ground, let alone away from the test site.

Damn, not even static rocket tests are that safe these days...

 

[tankphobia]

The test actually goes waaaay beyond expectations lmfao

In the meantime, it'd probably be better if some heads in that company (and whoever's responsible for designing, building and certifying that test stage) get axed while keeping the overall program ongoing. The subjects meant to be tested (i.e. the engines) did function largely as expected.

Besides, perhaps the CNSA should roll out new requirements, such that in case such "static test" rocket escaped from its test stage, there must be a self-destruct function onboard that would automatically detonate the rocket before it ever higher off the ground, let alone away from the test site.

Damn, not even static rocket tests are that safe these days...

Honestly after such a high profile incident, I would not be surprised if CNSA put a hard pause on all upcoming rocket tests from private providers until they reassure the government that they will be conducted safely. A shame that the negative press is competing with major milestones such as the moon sample return success.

 

[Dante80]

This had nothing to do with the rocket, it is evidently a GS failure. The hold down clamps/pins seared right off.
Not sure at this point if this was a design issue or a QC one.

 

[siegecrossbow]

The test actually goes waaaay beyond expectations lmfao

A Jai China take if I’ve seen one.

 

[PopularScience]

Imagine that "static test" rocket flew in the general direction of the cameraman instead of the other way around, and then crashed right in that populated area. The casualties would be catastrophic.

How could such low-level errors be allowed to even happen in the first place? Some heads in that company (and even some in CNSA who gave this test the go-ahead) will have to roll.

Residents were evacuated during the test. Please read the news.

 

[Dante80]

About Tianlong-3 Liquid Launch Vehicle

Information note on the test run of the power system of the first sub-stage

At 3:43 p.m. on June 30, 2024, the Tianlong-3 Liquid Launch Vehicle independently developed by Tianbing Science and Technology (TSST) conducted a hot test run of the nine-engine parallel power system of the first sub-stage at the Comprehensive Test Center of Gongyi City, Henan Province.

During the test, the first sub-stage rocket ignited normally, the engine thrust reached 820 tons, due to the structural failure of the connection between the rocket body and the test stand, the first sub-stage rocket detached from the launch pad, after lifting off, the computer on the rocket shut down voluntarily, the rocket fell into the deep mountain 1.5 kilometers southwest from the test stand, and the arrow body disintegrated after falling into the mountain. This test location is far away from Gongyi city, before the test and the local government jointly improve the safety measures and organize the evacuation of the surrounding personnel in advance, after the investigation, no casualties.

Tianlong III is a large liquid launch vehicle tailored for China's satellite Internet constellation construction, product performance against SpaceX's Falcon 9, with a diameter of 3.8 meters, takeoff mass of 590 tons, near-Earth orbit (LEO) capacity of 17 tons, sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) capacity of 14 tons.

Tianlong III launch vehicle power system test vehicle for a sub-stage of nine TH-12 (Tianhuo XII) engine ignition at the same time, is China's current stage of the launch vehicle in the development process of the largest thrust of a power system test vehicle, compared with the previous China's largest thrust test of the aerospace has increased by a factor of two.

Thanks to the friends from all walks of life and the higher authorities for their attention to Tianbing Technology, we will complete the fault zeroing as soon as possible and organize the production and test of new products.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

 

[ACuriousPLAFan]

A Jai China take if I’ve seen one.

And that's called sarcasm, if you actually get what I'm saying in that sentence.

Residents were evacuated during the test. Please read the news.

And? It's still not that far from a populated region, considering that the rocket wasn't supposed to even lift off in the first place.

Notice those buildings in the foreground? And the distance where the rocket crashed after its unexpected liftoff? Crashing 1.5 kilometers away from the test site isn't exactly close-by.




And notice how massive the fireball was when the rocket crashed? Highly likely that there's still plenty of fuel onboard. Had the rocket engines not been programmed to shut down after the duration of time which we've seen, that rocket could've flown much higher and further than it actually did just this afternoon.

Had the rocket did just that and in the wrong direction, i.e. towards populated areas - That's what I meant that the results from such mis-endeavor could be potentially catastrophic. Even if the rocket crashed while running dry - That's still going to cause a hefty amount of damage.

And speaking of being evacuated - Referencing to distance between the test site and the person who took this particular video, and given the scale and speed of things involved in this event, it's close to being overhead:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1807334917031825869