Company apologizes after test rocket crashes

Chinese commercial space launch company Beijing Tianbing Technology, also known as Space Pioneer, issued a public apology on Tuesday after a test of the first stage engines of its Tianlong-3 rocket failed in Henan province, causing explosions in a mountainous area that disturbed residents.

Tianlong-3, a two-stage kerosene-liquid oxygen rocket comparable to SpaceX's Falcon 9, experienced the failure during a test of its nine first-stage engines in the city of Gongyi on Sunday.

At 3:43 pm, the engines were fired according to plan, and the engine thrust reached 820 metric tons.