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Chinese space firm unintentionally launches its new rocket

arstechnica.com Chinese space firm unintentionally launches its new rocket

Space Pioneer had been prepping the vehicle for its debut launch later this summer.

Chinese space firm unintentionally launches its new rocket

The rocket was undergoing a static fire test of the stage, in which a vehicle is clamped to a test stand while its engines are ignited, when the booster broke free. According to a statement from the company, the rocket was not sufficiently clamped down and blasted off from the test stand "due to a structural failure."

Video of the accidental ascent showed the rocket rising several hundred meters into the sky before it crashed explosively into a mountain 1.5 km away from the test site.

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