On the afternoon of June 30, the reporter confirmed from the Emergency Management Bureau of Gongyi City, Henan Province, that a private rocket company had an accident when it was conducting a rocket engine test run in the city, and the rocket took off from the test frame unexpectedly, and then crashed in a mountainous area. After receiving the report of the accident, the Gongyi City Emergency Management Bureau has gone to the scene to deal with it, and there are no casualties reported for the time being.
The reporter learned from a number of people familiar with the matter that the rocket involved in the accident was the first flight of the Tianlong No. 3 of the Tianbing Technology Company, and the test run part was the first stage of the rocket. According to the official website of Tianbing Technology, the Tianlong-3 rocket is the first large-scale liquid launch vehicle in domestic commercial space, the rocket adopts a two-stage configuration design, with liquid oxygen and kerosene as the main propellant, the rocket will complete the first flight mission in July 2024 as planned, and has more than 30 commercial launches per year within three years after the first flight.
It is understood that Tianbing Technology is a Chinese private commercial aerospace company, which was established on April 10, 2019. The company is mainly committed to the research and development of a new generation of liquid rocket engines and medium and large liquid launch vehicles. In April 2023, Tianbing Technology's Tianlong-2 Yao-1 carrier rocket was successfully launched from China's Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, setting 8 commercial space records including the successful first flight of the world's private liquid rocket.
According to media reports, on June 30, the Emergency Management Bureau of Gongyi City, Henan Province responded that it was a rocket engine test flight (test run), and the staff had gone to the scene to deal with it, and there were no casualties reported for the time being.
The reporter learned from the Foreign Propaganda Center of the Gongyi Municipal Party Committee and the News Center of the Gongyi Municipal People's Government that at 3:43 p.m. on June 30, 2024, Tianbing Aerospace Technology Co., Ltd. carried out a sub-stage of the launch vehicle in the Gongyi Comprehensive Test Center to carry out a sub-stage of the whole system test run.
Tianbing Technology responds to "rocket falling and catching fire":
During the rocket test, the rocket body broke away from the launch pad and fell into the mountains
On June 30, Tianbing Technology issued a statement saying that during the test run, a sub-stage rocket ignited normally, and the engine thrust reached 820 tons, due to the failure of the structure of the connection between the rocket body and the test bench, a sub-stage rocket broke away from the launch pad, after liftoff, the rocket computer was actively shut down, and the rocket fell into the deep mountains 1.5 kilometers southwest of the test bench, and the rocket body fell into the mountains and disintegrated. The full text is as follows:
At 3:43 p.m. on June 30, 2024, the Tianlong-3 liquid launch vehicle independently developed by Tianbing Technology carried out a hot test of a sub-stage nine-machine parallel power system at the Comprehensive Test Center in Gongyi City, Henan Province.
During the test run, a sub-stage rocket ignited normally, the engine thrust reached 820 tons, due to the failure of the structure of the connection between the rocket body and the test bench, a sub-stage rocket detached from the launch pad, after liftoff, the rocket computer actively shut down, the rocket fell into the deep mountains 1.5 kilometers southwest of the test bench, and the rocket body fell into the mountains and disintegrated. The test site is far away from Gongyi City, and before the test, we jointly improved safety and security measures with the local government and organized the evacuation of surrounding personnel in advance.
Tianlong-3 is a large-scale liquid launch vehicle tailored by Tianbing Technology for the construction of the mainland satellite Internet constellation, and its product performance is comparable to SpaceX's Falcon 9, with a diameter of 3.8 meters, a take-off mass of 590 tons, a low earth orbit (LEO) capacity of 17 tons, and a sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) capacity of 14 tons.
The test run of the power system of the Tianlong-3 launch vehicle is the simultaneous ignition of nine TH-12 (Tianhuo 12) engines of a sub-stage, which is the largest thrust test of the launch vehicle in the development process of the mainland at this stage, and an increase of two times compared with the previous maximum thrust test of China's aerospace space.
Thanks to friends from all walks of life and superior authorities for their attention to Tianbing Technology, we will complete the fault zeroing as soon as possible and organize the production and test of new products.
Whether Tianbing Technology has legal liability
Compensation for residents affected by the accident?
Some legal practitioners have issued a document stating that according to the Civil Code and relevant laws and regulations, enterprises are liable for compensation for property losses or personal injuries caused to others due to their actions.
As the person directly responsible for the accident, if its behavior is proved to be negligent or failed to take reasonable measures to prevent the accident, Tianbing Technology shall provide compensation to the residents who have suffered losses in accordance with the law. Compensation may include, but is not limited to, repairing or replacing damaged items, emotional damages, and medical expenses that may be incurred.
Source: Cover News (Reporter Yang Feng), Surging News (Reporter Gao Liang), CCTV News, Beijing Tianbing Technology Co., Ltd