iSpace Fails to Orbit Satellite for Second Time in 2021
The Chinese commercial launch provider iSpace failed to orbit a satellite with its Hyperbola-1 rocket for the second time in a row on Tuesday.
iSpace, which is also known as the Interstellar Glory Space Technology, said in a press release that the four-stage rocket worked as planned after liftoff from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. However, the fairing failed to separate, so the unidentified satellite could not enter its planned 500 km high sun synchronous orbit.
“This launch further verified the correctness of the overall plan of the Hyperbola-1 rocket, obtained effective flight data, and accumulated valuable experience and lessons,” the company said.
It was the second failure in three launch attempts for the commercial company. On Feb. 1, a Hyperbola-1 rocket carrying multiple satellites veered off course early during its flight. The company attributed the failure to a falling piece of foam.
iSpace made history in July 2019 when its Hyperbola-1 rocket placed several payloads into space. It was the first successful launch by a private Chinese company.
2 responses to “iSpace Fails to Orbit Satellite for Second Time in 2021”
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Awww, I’d like to see this company succeed, they have chutzpah.
I’d say that Deep Blue Aerospace probably takes the Chinese chutzpah award thus far. It referred to a recent brief 30-foot hop by its dinky test article as a “Grasshopper jump.”
iSpace may yet succeed. But don’t be surprised if that takes awhile or never happens at all. Early failures are normative in rocketry.
China doesn’t get a pass on reality and probability just because it, and its doofus oikophobe Western fanboys, fancy it the wave of the future in space and everything else.