On June 30, 2021, China's largest recyclable liquid launch vehicle, Tianlong-3, had an incredible accident during the system-wide hot test in Gongyi, Henan, and the entire rocket suddenly rushed out of the test site! This unexpected event caused a great shock in the field of astronautics.
The test was originally planned to be a parallel static ignition test of nine first-stage engines, which should have been carried out entirely on the ground, but the rocket suddenly burst into the sky, then suddenly stalled, fell with thick smoke and caused a huge explosion.
According to the video, the test site is surrounded by residential areas, and it is hoped that the accident did not cause any casualties.
Up to now, Tianbing Technology has not publicly responded to this matter, and it is said that it may be that the thrust was set too much during the test, which caused the rocket to fail to stabilize and eventually fly out of control.
According to reports, the new generation of rocket "Bright Starlight" adopts the domestic leading 110-ton thrust liquid oxygen kerosene rocket engine "Heart of the Earth", which has been developed by the Tianbing science and technology team for several years, and its performance is outstanding. This engine is the first in China to adopt the "nine machine parallel" technology, which was completed in the final assembly and testing process of Zhangjiagang Intelligent Manufacturing Base, and has arrived in Gongyi, Henan Province in June.
According to the original plan, the "Bright Starlight" will leave for the Hainan launch site in September for its first test flight after completing the hot test run of the whole system of the "nine-machine parallel connection".
Designed for large-scale satellite internet constellations, the rocket can carry more than 30 satellites at a time, rivaling the performance of SpaceX's Falcon 9, with significant advantages such as thrust and reusability.
According to reports, the "Brilliant Starlight" has a diameter of 3.8 meters, a take-off mass of 590 tons, and can send 14 tons of cargo into SSO sun-synchronous orbit and 17 tons of cargo into LEO low-earth orbit.