A Chinese rocket that was supposed to put a satellite into orbit exploded seconds after launch, CNN reported. It is a relatively rare failure for the rocket, considered one of the main working rockets in Beijing's space program.
The "Long March-7A" rocket exploded into a huge fireball just 85 seconds after liftoff from the Wenchang Space Center on Hainan Island on Monday night.
The state-run Xinhua News Agency confirmed the failure three hours after launch, saying that "an anomaly occurred in the rocket during the flight". The cause is under investigation.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who has watched many of his own rockets explode after launch, commented in X: "Rockets are hard as hell".
"Chang Zheng-7A" is a satellite launch vehicle developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology - a subsidiary of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation - the main state contractor for China's space program.
This was to be the 18th mission of the "Chang Zheng-7A". The rocket has only failed once so far - on its first flight in 2020. The second attempt in March 2021 was successful, with photos showing crowds of people gathering to watch the launch.
Wunchang, home to one of China's main spaceports, is also known for its space tourism. Tourists and locals often gather at the Launch Observation Center at the Wenchang Spaceport and other locations with good visibility of the launches.
A video posted online after Monday's failed launch showed shouts of surprise as the rocket disintegrated in mid-air shortly after 8 p.m. local time.
According to Chinese state media, the rocket was carrying the "Jongxin-4B", also known as ChinaSat-4B, which is intended to provide radio, television and other communications services to users around the world.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has set an ambitious goal of making China a world leader in space science by 2050. The country is fiercely competing with the United States on multiple fronts, including in the development of reusable rockets, lunar exploration and satellite launches.
Following the failure of the "Chang Zheng-7A", the long-awaited launch of the "Juke-3", scheduled for this morning from the Jiuquan Spaceport, has been postponed.
"Juke-3", developed by China's private rocket company LandSpace, is the country's first serious attempt at creating a reusable rocket. It made its maiden flight in December 2025, but the rocket's first stage caught fire and then crashed near its intended landing site.
Last month, China successfully recovered the rocket's first stage during a follow-up test, a breakthrough for China's reusable rocket program.
Unlike the "Juke-3", the "Chang Zheng-7A" is a three-stage rocket that is not designed for reuse.
The rocket is almost 60 meters long, has four boosters and can put up to seven metric tons of payload into geostationary transfer orbit - approximately 35,405 kilometers above the Earth's surface.