In short:
A test of a new liquid-fuel rocket by a private Chinese space company ended in a fiery explosion as the rocket launched accidentally, failed mid-flight, then fell and detonated outside of a rural city in central China.
Beijing Tianbing Technology said it was supposed to be a static test but the rocket detached from its launch pad due to structural failure.
There were no reported casualties from the explosion, though scattered debris led to fires that were suppressed by local emergency services.
A test rocket that crashed in a hilly area of the city of Gongyi in central China in a firey explosion shortly after launch on Sunday was reportedly not meant to have left the ground.
Beijing Tianbing Technology said the first stage of its Tianlong-3 rocket under development detached from its launch pad during a test due to structural failure.
There were no reports of casualties after an initial investigation, the company, also known as Space Pioneer, said in a statement on its official WeChat account.
Parts of the rocket stage were scattered within a "safe area" but caused a local fire, according to a separate statement by the Gongyi emergency management bureau.
The fire had since been extinguished and no one had been hurt, the bureau said.
Unverified videos posted to social media appeared to show it launching briefly before crashing into a hill with buildings in the foreground.
The two-stage Tianlong-3, or "Sky Dragon 3", is a partly reusable rocket under development by Space Pioneer, one of a small group of private-sector rocket makers that have grown rapidly over the past five years.
Falling rocket debris in China after launches is not unheard of, but it is very rare for part of a rocket under development to make an unplanned flight out of its test site and crash.
According to Space Pioneer, the first stage of the Tianlong-3 ignited normally during a hot test but later detached from the test bench due to structural failure and landed in hilly areas 1.5 km away.
A rocket can consist of several stages, with the first, or lowest, stage igniting and propelling the rocket upwards upon its launch.
When the fuel is exhausted, the first stage falls off and the second stage ignites, keeping the rocket in propulsion. Some rockets have a third stage.
Space Pioneer says the performance of Tianlong-3 is comparable to SpaceX's Falcon 9, which is also a two-stage rocket.
In 2023, Space Pioneer launched a kerosene-oxygen rocket, the Tianlong-2, becoming the first private Chinese firm to send a liquid-propellant rocket into space.
Chinese commercial space companies have rushed into the sector since 2014, when private investment in the industry was allowed by the state.
Many started making satellites while others, including Space Pioneer, focused on developing reusable rockets that could significantly cut mission costs.
The test sites of such companies can be found along China's coastal areas, located by the sea due to safety reasons.
But some are also sited deep in the country's interior such as Space Pioneer's test centre in Gongyi, a city of 800,000 people in the central province of Henan.
North Korea claims successful tests
It comes as North Korea fired one short-range ballistic missile and another ballistic missile on Monday, South Korea's military said.
The first short-range ballistic missile was fired to the north-east around 5:05am from near Changyon, South Hwanghae Province in North Korea. Another unknown ballistic missile was detected around 5:15am from the same area, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
The first missile flew about 600 kilometres. The second flew about 120 kilometres, with South Korea and the United States analysing the launch, it added.
"We strongly condemn North Korea's missile launch as a provocation that seriously threatens peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula," the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement, adding it shared information on the missiles with US and Japanese authorities.
"The South Korean military will maintain its capacity and posture to respond overwhelmingly to any provocation while closely monitoring North Korea's various activities under a strong South Korea-US joint defence posture."
On Sunday, North Korea criticised a joint military exercise by South Korea, Japan and the United States held last month and warned of "overwhelming response" against such drills.
North Korea said last week it had successfully conducted an important test aimed at developing missiles carrying multiple warheads, a claim rejected by South Korea as "deception" to mask a failed launch.
Reuters