Chinese private space firm Deep Blue Space conducted a test of its Nebula-1 recoverable rocket at its spaceport, located in the desert of Inner Mongolia.
Although the rocket successfully lifted off the ground and then executed the recovery maneuver correctly, it ended up crashing right when it was in the final stages of the landing process, after 179 seconds in the air.
The 21-meter-long Nebula-1 rocket is powered by a liquid oxygen-kerosene engine and, according to Deep Blue Space, high-temperature alloy 3D printing technology has been used to make more than 90% of its structure.
The Chinese space company has issued a detailed statement on its website explaining that the rocket had successfully completed nine out of the 10 stages which had been planned for the test flight.
The crash occurred after the engine suffered an abnormal shut down when it was just 0.5 meters from the landing point, resulting in partial damage to the rocket.
The whole sequence was captured on video by hovering drones and posted on social media.
Deep Blue Space will perform the next recovery test flight in November 2024, after it has analyzed the data from this attempt.
The Jiangsu-based private space firm, which was founded in 2016 to provide independent space launch services in China, expects to achieve a full orbital launch and recovery before the end of 2024.