China Blames Long March Failure on Third-Stage Malfunction

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It follows a note published on the day (12/10), in the site "www.spacenews.com", noting that China blames Long March failure on Third-Stage malfunction.

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China Blames Long March Failure

on Third-Stage Malfunction

By Peter B. de Selding

Dec. 10, 2013

Credit: Xinhua photo

Long March 4 B rocket.

PARIS — China’s launch-service provider on Dec. 10 said its Long March 4B rocket failure on Dec. 9 was caused by a third-stage malfunction of unspecified origin, resulting in the loss of the China-Brazil CBERS-3 Earth observation satellite.

Beijing-based China Great Wall Industry Corp. (CGWIC) said in a statement that the vehicle’s builder, the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, is investigating the failure.

The statement said China and Brazil are both confident that their long-standing partnership in space programs will continue. The Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) said the CBERS-3 satellite, built mainly in Brazil, appeared to have been in good health as the rocket launched from China’s Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, but that it likely fell to Earth when the rocket failed.

“Preliminary indications are that the satellite has returned” to Earth, AEB said. “There was a malfunction of the launch vehicle.” AEB said that China and Brazil nonetheless are determined to pursue the CBERS program, which began in 1999 with the launch of CBERS-1. CBERS-2 was launched in 2003, and CBERS-2B followed in 2007. Work on a CBERS-4 satellite would start immediately, AEB said.

The Long March 4B rocket debuted in 2009. It has launched 19 times since then, with the Dec. 9 launch its 20th.

Source: Website www.spacenews.com

Comentário: Pois é, os chineses estão confirmando a falha no terceiro estágio do foguete. Mas será verdade leitor? Não sei, continuarei com essa dúvida por muito tempo. Aproveitamos para agradecer ao leitor José Ildefonso pelo envio dessa notícia.