Chinese Space Rocket Tianlong-3 by Space Pioneer Fails First Launch Attempt

In recent hours, the Artemis II mission has come to an end after just under 10 days since its launch at the beginning of April. Meanwhile, in the aerospace world, there have been several updates that have taken a back seat, even though they could be important in the long run. Among these is the test of the Indian Gaganyaan spacecraft but also the debut of two Chinese space rockets. The first was the long-awaited inaugural launch of Space Pioneer Tianlong-3.

This medium-lift launcher, with its reusable first stage, became "famous" against its will due to an unexpected liftoff during a static fire in mid-2024. Fortunately, only some damage was reported, with no injuries or casualties, although the incident sparked a debate in China regarding safety in testing within the growing aerospace market.

According to Space Pioneer, the launch of Tianlong-3 was then rescheduled for May 2025, but, as one might expect, the timelines were not respected. In September of last year, a successful static fire led the company to have some optimism for the inaugural launch, which was then conducted in early April 2026.

As with other newly produced space rockets, the Jiuquan (JSLC) spaceport was chosen for the first launch. The liftoff took place at 6:17 AM on April 3, but Tianlong-3 did not reach its intended target. There is still no precise information on what happened, but the problem may lie in the hardware, particularly in the propulsion bay area. In the launch videos, a small explosion can be seen about 33 seconds after liftoff in the lower section, which could signal an anomaly that led to the mission failure.

The reusable Space Pioneer Tianlong-3 rocket stands 71 meters tall and has a maximum diameter of 3.8 meters. The lower section features 9 Tianhuo-12 boosters, which are expected to have performance slightly inferior to SpaceX's Falcon 9 (according to specifications) and may lead to first-stage reusability in the future, thereby increasing launch cadence. The failure of a first launch attempt for an entirely new vehicle is neither unprecedented nor entirely unexpected. Now it will be up to the management to figure out the problem and return to the launch pad as soon as possible for a second launch (hopefully with a different outcome).