China's Long March 7A rocket launch fails, says space authority

A Long March 7A rocket launch on Monday evening failed due to technical malfunctions, according to China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp.

The rocket blasted off at 8:02 pm from the Wenchang Space Launch Site in Hainan province to transport the ChinaSat 4B communication satellite into orbit. However, some malfunctions took place during flight, the State-owned space contractor said, noting an investigation is under way.

The Long March 7A rocket model is made by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology in Beijing, a Beijing-based subsidiary of CASC. It has a liftoff weight of 573 metric tons and a core-stage diameter of 3.35 meters, and is capable of placing a 7-ton spacecraft to geosynchronous transfer orbit.

This has become the second launch failure of the Long March 7A fleet, which has been used in 17 space missions.