The Chinese space program has suffered one of its biggest setbacks in recent years. a rocket Long March 7A exploded about 85 seconds after takeoff yesterday August 10 from the space center Wenchanglocated on the island of Hainanalso destroying the communications satellite ChinaSat-4B that he transported.
The launch began at 8:02 p.m. local time and for just over a minute it seemed to proceed normally. Images recorded from the ground show how The vehicle ends up turning into a huge fireball. while still at a relatively low altitude and speed.
The Chinese authorities have limited themselves to confirming that an anomaly occurred during the flight and that the cause is being investigatedReuters reports. The accident occurred during the first phase of the ascent, when they were still the first stage and its four lateral thrusters working together. Some observers have even suggested that the large explosion visible in the images could correspond to the activation of the rocket destruction system after previously detecting a serious failure.
The six YF-100 engines, in the spotlight
The moment in which the failure occurred inevitably focuses attention on the propulsion system. During that part of the flight they were running six YF-100 enginestwo in the first stage and one for each side booster. It does not exist, however, no official confirmation that one of these engines caused the accident and other vehicle systems could also be involved.
The Long March 7A is one of the main Chinese launchers intended to place large satellites into high orbits. Measure 60.1 metershas a mass of about 573 tons at takeoff and can carry around 7 tons to a geostationary transfer orbit. It has three stages and the aforementioned four lateral thrusters. After the YF-100 of the first phase of the flight uses four engines YF-115 of the second stage and subsequently two YF-75 fed with liquid hydrogen and oxygen from the third. It is a conventional single-use rocket and its stages are not designed to be recovered.
The accident occurred in the 18th Long March 7A mission. Although its premiere in March 2020 ended in failure, it returned to service in 2021 and had completed 16 consecutive successful launches until this week. The 7A variant added a third stage to the original Long March 7 to specialize in satellites destined for much higher orbits..
China loses ChinaSat-4B satellite, linked to possible military use
The lost cargo, the satellite ChinaSat-4Balso called Zhongxing-4Bwas a communications satellite about which Beijing has offered few details. It belongs to the same series as ChinaSat-4Alaunched in 2024 and intended for voice, data, radio and television services. Some sources and analysts link these satellites with government or military communicationsalthough China has not confirmed that ChinaSat-4B had that purpose.
How it can affect the Chinese space program
The consequences for the rest of the Chinese space program will now depend on what researchers find. If this is an exclusive failure of the Long March 7A, the impact could be limited to temporarily paralyzing this model and delay the satellites it had planned to launch. Its loss also does not directly affect the large Chinese constellations in low orbit, for which other vehicles are used.
The scenario would be much more complicated if the origin were in the YF-100 or in some associated system shared by other rockets. The YF-100 and engines derived from this family They are used in numerous Chinese launchers, including the Long March 5, 6, 7, 8 and 12, and their technology will also be key in the future Long March 10 intended for the manned lunar program, so a design or manufacturing breakdown could force a much larger portion of the fleet to be reviewed before authorizing new launches.
One of the missions that would be under special surveillance would be Chang’e 7which China prepares for explore the south pole of the Moon during the second half of this year. The probe will use a Long March 5, a different rocket, but Its four lateral thrusters also use YF-100 engines.. For now there are no official indications that the mission will be delayed, but an investigation that detects a systemic problem in these engines would require them to be reviewed and perhaps modified before allowing the launch.