On August 10th, a Long March 7A rocket — six years into an unblemished record — exploded shortly after liftoff from Wenchang, Hainan, taking its satellite payload with it into failure rather than orbit. It is the first mishap for this variant since its maiden flight in March 2020, a rare interruption in a program that has staked much of its identity on steady, reliable progress. Spaceflight has always carried the reminder that even proven systems operate at the edge of what is controllable, and China's engineers now face the quiet, painstaking work of understanding why.
Chinese Long March 7A rocket explodes after lift-off in first failure since 2020
Science & Space