{"id":11535,"date":"2021-08-03T21:38:25","date_gmt":"2021-08-03T13:38:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/chinese-commercial-launcher-fails-during-climb-to-orbit\/"},"modified":"2021-08-03T21:38:25","modified_gmt":"2021-08-03T13:38:25","slug":"chinese-commercial-launcher-fails-during-climb-to-orbit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/chinese-commercial-launcher-fails-during-climb-to-orbit\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese commercial launcher fails during climb to orbit"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
File photo of a Hyperbola 1 rocket undergoing launch preparations. Credit: i-Space<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The launch of a solid-fueled rocket developed by the Chinese commercial space firm iSpace failed Tuesday, the second launch failure in three orbital attempts by the startup company, Chinese state media said.<\/p>\n

A Hyperbola 1 rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan launch base at 3:39 a.m. EDT (0739 GMT; 3:39 p.m. Beijing time), China\u2019s government-run Xinhua news agency said.<\/p>\n

Xinhua, which described the launch as a \u201cflight test,\u201d said the rocket exhibited \u201cabnormal performance\u201d after liftoff. Officials did not immediately specify when during the flight the rocket failed.<\/p>\n

The news agency said a satellite carried by the rocket \u201cdid not enter orbit as scheduled.\u201d Chinese officials did not identify the payload lost on the mission.<\/p>\n

The Hyperbola 1 rocket was developed by iSpace, also known as Beijing Interstellar Glory Space Technology Ltd. On its website, iSpace says the Hyperbola 1 rocket consists of four solid-fueled stages, which are supplemented by liquid-fueled attitude control engines.<\/p>\n

A data sheet posted on iSpace\u2019s website indicates the Hyperbola 1 rocket stands about 78 feet (24 meters) tall, and produces about 173,000 pounds of liftoff thrust. It can deliver a payload of up to 660 pounds, or 300 kilograms, to a 310-mile-high (500-kilometer) sun-synchronous orbit, according to iSpace.<\/p>\n

The first launch of a Hyperbola 1 rocket succeeded in July 2019, making iSpace the first privately-managed firm in China to deliver a satellite into orbit.<\/p>\n

An upgraded model of the Hyperbola 1 rocket launched Feb. 1, but the vehicle veered out of control shortly after liftoff. In a statement, iSpace said investigators determined a piece of foam insulation designed to drop off the rocket after launch fell and got stuck on one of the grid fins at the bottom of the first stage.<\/p>\n

When the chunk of foam fell off the grid fin later in the flight, the winglet deflected more than 30 degrees in a short time, causing a sudden change in the attitude of the rocket. The deflection led to the loss of control of the rocket.<\/p>\n

Enabled by a policy change in 2014 to permit the flow of private capital in China\u2019s launch industry, companies like iSpace established in the last few years have quickly fielded small solid-fueled launchers. Many, or all, of the first generation of privately-funded Chinese launchers appear to use rocket motors derived from Chinese ballistic missiles.<\/p>\n

Last year, another Chinese launch company named Galactic Energy became the second Chinese startup managed independently from the country\u2019s legacy state-owned space contractors to launch a rocket into Earth orbit.<\/p>\n

Two other companies, LandSpace and OneSpace, have launched orbital-class rockets unsuccessfully.<\/p>\n

Many of the new wave of Chinese launch companies, including iSpace, are planning more powerful liquid-fueled rockets to carry heavier satellites into orbit.<\/p>\n

The Hyperbola 2 rocket under development by iSpace is designed to be reusable, with its first and second stages driven by engines fueled by methane and liquid oxygen. The Hyperbola 2 rocket will stand 92 feet (28 meters) tall, and its first stage attempt a propulsive landing, allowing iSpace to recover, refurbish, and reuse the booster.<\/p>\n

Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

File photo of a Hyperbola 1 rocket undergoing launch preparations. Credit: i-Space The launch of a solid-fueled rocket developed by the Chinese commercial space firm iSpace failed Tuesday, the second launch failure in three orbital attempts by the startup company, Chinese state media said. A Hyperbola 1 rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan launch base […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11535"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11535\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}