(Yicai) July 1 -- Space Pioneer said no casualties were reported after a rocket being test-fired accidentally launched and then crashed in a blaze. The private Chinese aerospace company blamed a structural problem for the accident.

The Tianlong-3 rocket detached from the launch pad in Gongyi, in China's central Henan province, during a first-stage propulsion system test yesterday due to a structural failure at the connection point between the rocket body and the test platform, Space Pioneer said in a statement the same day. 

The commercial rocket subsequently crashed in the mountainous area 1.5 kilometers from the test center, where it disintegrated upon impact, the Beijing-based firm added. It came down within the safety control zone, far from the residential area, according to the local government.

Also known as China’s answer to SpaceX’s Falcon 9, the TL-3 is a large liquid carrier rocket designed by Space Pioneer for the construction of China's low-orbit satellite internet constellation. It has a diameter of 3.8 meters, a takeoff mass of 590 tons, and a payload capacity of 17 tons to low Earth orbit and 14 tons to sun-synchronous orbit.

The test-firing, which involved the simultaneous ignition of nine TH-12 engines on the first stage, was the most powerful of its kind in the development of the country’s carrier rockets, as it was two times the previous maximum thrust test in China's aerospace industry, Space Pioneer said.

Founded in 2019, Space Pioneer has completed 15 rounds of financing, raising a total of more than CNY4 billion (USD550 million).

Editor: Futura Costaglione