China’s Long March 7A rocket explodes shortly after launch

Beijing: China’s latest space launch ended in failure on Monday after a Long March 7A rocket exploded about 85 seconds after liftoff from the Wenchang Space Launch Site in Hainan.

The rocket, operated by the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), launched at around 8:02 p.m. local time on August 10 (12:02 GMT). Video footage showed the vehicle breaking apart in a large fireball while still climbing through the atmosphere, followed by a cloud of smoke and debris.

The incident occurred well before the rocket’s first-stage separation, which normally takes place roughly three minutes after launch. At the time of the explosion, the Long March 7A was still conducting its initial main-stage burn.

Monday’s launch was the 18th mission of the Long March 7A since its debut in 2020. The rocket’s first-ever flight also ended unsuccessfully, with China later attributing that failure to an engine malfunction shortly after first-stage separation.

CASC had not issued an official explanation for Monday’s failure at the time of the report. The mission is expected to be classified as a total loss of the launch vehicle and its payload, pending an official investigation.