Launch failure for Chinese pseudo-company Ispace
Based on a very terse report in China’s state-run press today, there was a launch failure today for one of China’s pseudo-companies, launched from the Jiuquan spaceport in the northwest of China.
Further research suggests the failure was on Ispace’s Hyperbola-1 solid-fueled rocket. If so, this would be that rocket’s fourth failure out of seven launches.
No other information about the failure has so far been released.
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Based on a very terse report in China’s state-run press today, there was a launch failure today for one of China’s pseudo-companies, launched from the Jiuquan spaceport in the northwest of China.
Further research suggests the failure was on Ispace’s Hyperbola-1 solid-fueled rocket. If so, this would be that rocket’s fourth failure out of seven launches.
No other information about the failure has so far been released.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
So a success rate of 3 in 7? Sure, I’ll have those guys launch my $90M satellite.
Solids are tough to get down–unlike LM-9, solid rocket programs help forward ICBM research–so they may yet be propped up.
Is this company using new solid fuel rockets or are they using old military rockets engines? Those things should be good for at least 15 years.
Speaking of rocket failures: It seems that the almost unthinkable has happened tonight: A Falcon 9 mission experienced a partial failure during flight, when its second stage Merlin 9 experienced a RUD on relight.
Elon’s tweet explaining what SpaceX currently knows: “Upper stage restart to raise perigee resulted in an engine RUD for reasons currently unknown. Team is reviewing data tonight to understand root cause. Starlink satellites were deployed, but the perigee may be too low for them to raise orbit. Will know more in a few hours.” https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1811620381590966321
This represents the first in-flight failure for SpaceX’s Falcon rocket family since June 2015, a stunning streak of 344 consecutive successful launches until tonight. For the Block 5 Falcon 9, it is the first failure of any sort.
We must wait and see how this affects other coming scheduled launches. I expect that there will be some kind of suspension of operations while SpaceX sorts this out (though surely not nearly as long other launch providers have been accustomed to).
Richard M: I was about to go to the live stream to post tonight’s launch when your comment appeared. Thank you for the update. It made it much easier for me to figure out what happened.