Launch News (FAILURE) Long March 4B launch with CBERS-3, December 9, 2013

[Cosmic Penguin]

Well the long stream of good news on Chinese spaceflight has finally been broken - and the Brazilians have been caught in it! wned:

CBERS-3, the latest Earth resources satellite of the long-running China–Brazil Earth Resources Satellite program between the Chinese and Brazilian space agencies, was launched on a Long March 4B rocket earlier today at 03:26 UTC. For some yet-to-be-determined reason the satellite did not reach orbit despite separating from the rocket 12 minutes after liftoff. This is the first launch failure of the Long March 4 series since its debut in 1988 - 34 launches earlier. If the similar Long March 2D is also counted (also built in Shanghai like the LM-4 series) this is its first failure in 55 launches.

Already running at least 3 years late due to electric system problems, this should have some impact on the Brazilian space program with the gap on its Earth resources program further lengthened to 2015 (when the similar CBERS-4 is planned to launch); although impact on the Chinese should not be significant with several similar satellites already up and running in orbit.

More information will be posted when it is available (should be plenty due to involving foreign partners).

NASASpaceflight.com: Brazil’s CBERS-3 spacecraft lost following Chinese failure

 

[MattBaker]

Just because I wondered this and others may, too:

The last Chinese launch failure was in 2011, 18th of August when a Long March 2C had a failure in the second stage and couldn't achieve orbit.
For the 4B its the first failure in its 14 year lifetime in the 20th launch. So still a 95% success rate.

 

[sorindafabico]

This is the first launch failure of the Long March 4 series since its debut in 1988 - 34 launches earlier.

It is not enough our space program be underfunded, it has to be unlucky too.

 

[kuddel]

It is not enough our space program be underfunded, it has to be unlucky too.

Accept my deep sympathy.
Being a scientific payload I think the CBERS wasn't ensured to a maximum, or?
That would still be a (time wise) drawback but giving your space industry some more work to do, would make the loss (a little) less bad.

 

[N_Molson]

It is not enough our space program be underfunded, it has to be unlucky too.

Launching a Monday was taking a serious risk. Waiting for Tuesday would have been way safer.

 

[sorindafabico]

Accept my deep sympathy.
Being a scientific payload I think the CBERS wasn't ensured to a maximum, or?
That would still be a (time wise) drawback but giving your space industry some more work to do, would make the loss (a little) less bad.

No idea about insurance...I heard that they will accelerate the construction of the next CBERS.

 

[Cosmic Penguin]

From what was reported over the past few days, apparently the rocket's third stage shut down 11 seconds early on its 6+ minute long burn - just enough to put the satellite on a sub-orbital trajectory. For some TBD reason the fuel flow to it's engine #2 stopped early...

 

[4throck]

It is not enough our space program be underfunded, it has to be unlucky too.

One thing leads to the other... that's why satellites/probes are usually done in pairs.
If CBERS-3b existed, it would simply be a matter of making another launch the next week. It looks to me like a management problem, but of course, there's room for conspiracy theories

 

[Urwumpe]

It is not enough our space program be underfunded, it has to be unlucky too.

Luck favors the persistant. Just keep on going and don't give up.

 

[Cosmic Penguin]

http://www.spacenews.com/article/launch-report/39687china-great-wall-pins-december-long-march-launch-failure-on-fuel-line

China’s launch-services provider on March 3 said the December failure of a Long March 4B rocket was due to debris that blocked fuel intake of an upper-stage engine, resulting in the loss of the CBERS-3 Earth observation satellite owned jointly by China and Brazil.

In a statement, The China Great Wall Industry Corp. (CGWIC) said the debris, which caused the premature shutdown of the second of two third-stage engines, likely came from “the launch vehicle pressurization feeding system or the assembly process of the third-stage engine.”

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