China suffers unprecedented double rocket launch failures in a single day

South China Morning PostCenter-RightEN 1 min read 100% complete by Victoria BelaJanuary 19, 2026 at 03:00 PM

AI Summary

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China experienced two rocket launch failures on the same day for the first time, marking a setback for its rapidly growing space program. On Saturday, a Long March-3B rocket launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre failed due to a malfunction in its third stage, resulting in the loss of the Shijian-32 satellite. Later that day, a Ceres-2 rocket, operated by the private company Galactic Energy, crashed back to Earth on its maiden flight, destroying the commercial satellites it was carrying. The Long March-3B failure ended a streak of successful launches since April 2020. Space observers noted that these failures are part of the growing pains of China's developing aerospace industry and drew comparisons to similar challenges faced by SpaceX.

Key Entities & Roles

Key Player Opposition Context

Shijian-32 60% Elon Musk 60% Sichuan province 60% Ceres-2 70% SpaceX 70% Xichang Satellite Launch Centre 70% Galactic Energy 70% Long March-3B ×380% China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) 80% China 90%

Keywords

rocket launch failure 100% china space programme 80% long march-3b rocket 70% aerospace industry 60% ceres-2 rocket 50% galactic energy 50% satellite 50% spacex 40%

Sentiment Analysis

Negative

Score: -0.20

Source Transparency

Source

South China Morning Post

Political Lean

Center-Right (0.50)

Far LeftCenterFar Right

Classification Confidence

90%

Geographic Perspective

China

This article was automatically classified using rule-based analysis. The political bias score ranges from -1 (far left) to +1 (far right).

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rocket launch failure china space programme long march-3b rocket aerospace industry ceres-2 rocket galactic energy satellite spacex

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