China's Long March Rocket Explodes After Launch
A Chinese Long March 7A rocket exploded shortly after lifting off from the Wenchang launch site on the island of Hainan, officials said. The cause of the failure was not immediately clear, and no details were given on the payload it had been carrying. It was a rare public setback for China’s fast-expanding space programme.
China has become one of the world’s most active space powers, launching satellites, crewed missions and lunar and Mars probes at a rapid clip, and such failures are unusual and closely studied. The Long March family is the backbone of its launch fleet, and any fault will be scrutinised for its impact on an ambitious schedule that includes a permanent space station and plans for a crewed Moon landing. Beijing tends to say little about mishaps, and the lack of detail was characteristic. Rocketry remains an unforgiving business even for the most advanced programmes. Watch for any official account of what went wrong.