Skip to content

Xinhua: Chinese Long March Rocket Failed Again

Xinhua recently reported that, on April 9, China’s Long March III-B carrier rocket failed its satellite mission for the Indonesian satellite PALAPA-N1. The first and second launch stages succeeded but the third stage failed and the satellite was destroyed too. The failure occurred at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. Less than a month ago, on March 16, the Long March VII Modified Rocket failed its mission at the Wenchang Space Launch Site.

According to Radio Free Asia (RFA) Chinese Edition, military analysts expressed the belief that the U.S. blockage of providing critical computer chips to China resulted in the slowdown of the Chinese technology development plans. This is also the reason for the failures seen in the recent Dongfeng Nuclear Missile tests. China had to replace certain chips with those developed domestically.

Sources:
(1) Xinhua, April 9, 2020 http://www.xinhuanet.com/2020-04/09/c_1125834989.htm
(2) Xinhua, March 16, 2020 http://www.xinhuanet.com/tech/2020-03/16/c_1125721734.htm
(3) RFA Chinese, April 10, 2020 https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/rocket-04102020081337.html