Watch giant explosion as Chinese rocket crashes into mountain after ‘accidental’ launch during tests
A CHINESE rocket has crashed into a hillside with a massive explosion after it launched by accident during a test on Sunday.
The rocket, owned by private Chinese space company Tianbig Technology, is supposed to be an upcoming rival to SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket.
![](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/LFM_rocket_explosion_china_2PNG-JS913975982-1.png?strip=all&w=385)
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The rocket was sat on the launch pad ready for testing.
But footage that has gone viral on social media shows the Tianlong-3 rocket in the air, before it curls back towards Earth in an uncontrolled fall.
The rocket then crashes into a forested hillside in China’s Henan province.
According to Tianbig Technology, the rocket “fell into a deep mountain 1.5km southwest of the test bench”.
It added that there were no casualties from the incident, and that people in the area had been evacuated.
In a statement, the rocket firm said the shock take-off was caused by a “structural failure at the connection between the rocket body and the test bench”.
This failure prompted the onboard computer to automatically shutdown, the company stated.