China's iSpace rocket fails soon after launch, losing 3 weather satellites

A Chinese rocket start-up has suffered yet another launch failure, resulting in the loss of three satellites as part of a commercial constellation being assembled for global weather forecasting and earthquake prediction.

Hyperbola-1 a 24-metre (79ft) high solid-fuel rocket produced by iSpace lifted off on Thursday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in China's Gobi Desert.

The rocket's first, second and third stages flew normally, but the fourth stage suffered an anomaly and the launch mission ended in failure, the company said, adding that the specific reasons for the failure would be announced as soon as possible after detailed investigations, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported on Friday.

The relatively small Hyperbola-1, which can deliver a 300 kg (661 pounds) payload into a 500 km (311 miles) sun-synchronous orbit, was carrying Yunyao-1 weather satellites 15, 16 and 17 for the Tianjin-based Yunyao Aerospace Technology company.

The satellites did not re