Chinese rocket launch reported to have failed, destroying cutting-edge earth observation satellite

A Chinese space launch has reportedly failed, resulting in the loss of one of the country’s most advanced earth observation satellites, in what would be the first such failure since 2013.

A Long March 4C rocket blasted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre in Shanxi on Thursday morning but aihangtian.com, a website built and run by Chinese professional astronautic experts and space enthusiasts, said it failed to insert its payload, the Gaofen-10 satellite, into its designated orbit.

The police department of neighbouring Shaanxi province also posted photos on its social media account of a search and recovery mission for debris on Thursday, in which the launch was dubbed a “failure”.

The entry was later removed from Weibo.

The Gaofen series satellites are designed to give China a global network of earth observation satellites with high-definition, all-weather, 24-hour intelligence gathering capabilities for military and civilian users by 2020.