This week, Landspace botched the world's first methane orbital rocket, which
What is known
Rocket launch, which was created by a privatecompany, took place on 14 December. She launched from a spaceport in the Gobi Desert. During takeoff, Zhuque-2 lost 14 satellites that were supposed to be in sun-synchronous orbit.
https://t.co/l8j2WPO4Gu pic.twitter.com/RlbRazxL3L
— Ace of Razgriz (@raz_liu) December 14, 2022
The mission had to be aborted due to a malfunctionsecond step. The first stage operated normally, but 5 minutes after the launch, it began to lose speed and altitude. Landspace is already developing a second Zhuque-2 rocket.
???? Leaked footage of the first launch of LANDSPACE’s Zhuque-2 shows liftoff at ~08:30:25UTC on DEC.14.At the time of anomaly at ~T 300s, second stage main engine has been cut off and payload fairing has been jettisoned.https://t.co/fAyuoOkS1A pic.twitter.com/TBHEA5W0ji
— China ‘N Asia Spaceflight ???????? ️???? (@CNSpaceflight) December 14, 2022
Confirmations surfaced on Twitter that the rocket did not reach orbit. At the same time, the Chinese Space Agency has not yet made an official statement about the launch.