China suffers launch failure of Long March 7A rocket on its maiden flight

The maiden flight of China’s Long March 7A at 1334 GMT lifted off on 16 March from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Centre on Hainan Island. But the launch failed when a serious problem arose with the second or third stage of the vehicle. The launch failure was not a complete surprise since first flights of new rockets traditionally have high failure rates. The failed launch lost the TJS 6 satellite communications/technology test satellite which, it is thought, could be an early warning satellite.

Philip Hylands contributed to this report.