Chinese rocket fails during launch of Indonesian satellite

A Chinese rocket carrying a new communications satellite for Indonesia has failed to reach orbit in a launch gone awry, state media reported on Thursday.

The Long March 3B launcher failed after lifting off from the Xichang space centre in the country’s southwestern Sichuan province at 1146 GMT (3:46 pm local time).

The rocket was carrying the Palapa-N1, also known as the Nusantara Dua, a next-generation satellite for broadband and broadcast communications built for the Indonesian joint venture of Indosat Ooredoo and Pasifik Satelit Nusantara.

The first and second stages of the three-stage Long March 3B rocket appeared to perform well during the outset of launch. But something went wrong with the third stage, raining debris back to Earth and destroying the Palapa-N1 satellite, Xinhua reported.

The offices of Guam Homeland Security and Civil Defense said in a statement that the debris was likely connected with the failed Chinese rocket launch. Authorities in Guam said there was “no direct threat” to the islands.

This is the second failed launch of a Chinese rocket in a month. A Long March 7A rocket failed to place a satellite in orbit on March 16 after taking off from the Wenchang space base on Hainan Island, located in southern China.