On the afternoon of June 30th, it was learned from the Emergency Management Bureau of Gongyi City, Henan Province that an accident occurred during the rocket engine test of a private rocket company in the city. The rocket accidentally took off and crashed in a mountainous area after rising into the air from the test stand. Overall sales volume of the company reached 18,000 kiloliters, +28.10% YoY in 2023. In terms of product structure, 100-300 billion yuan products operating income were 401/1288/60 million yuan respectively.

At night, Beijing Tianbing Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Tianbing Technology) issued an "Explanation on the power system test of one sub-level of the dragon III liquid launch vehicle". At 3:43 pm on June 30, the Tianbing Technology-developed Long March III liquid launch vehicle conducted a thermal test of one sub-level nine-machine parallel power system in the comprehensive test center of Gongyi City, Henan Province. During the test, the sub-level rocket was ignited normally. Due to the failure of the connection structure between the fuselage and test bench, the sub-level rocket was detached from the launch platform. After it rose into the air, the computer on the rocket automatically shut down, and the rocket fell apart when it crashed into a deep mountainous area 1.5 kilometers southwest of the test bench. No casualties were reported. The company stated that it appreciated the concern of friends from all walks of life and superiors for Tianbing Technology. The company will quickly complete the troubleshooting, organize the production and testing of new products.

During the test, the sub-level rocket was ignited normally. Due to the failure of the connection structure between the fuselage and test bench, the sub-level rocket was detached from the launch platform. After it rose into the air, the computer on the rocket automatically shut down, and the rocket fell apart when it crashed into a deep mountainous area 1.5 kilometers southwest of the test bench. No casualties were reported. Please use your Futubull account to access the feature.

The company appreciated the concern of friends from all walks of life and superiors for Tianbing Technology. The company will quickly complete the troubleshooting and organize the production and testing of new products.

"Tianlong III" is a large-scale liquid launch vehicle tailored by Tianbing Technology for China's satellite Internet constellation construction. The product performance is benchmarked against SpaceX's Falcon 9. The rocket uses liquid oxygen and kerosene as the main propellant and is expected to complete its maiden flight mission in July 2024. After the maiden flight, it will have the capacity for more than 30 commercial launches annually within three years.

A commercial aerospace investor told the "Star Market Daily" that accidents like the rocket taking off accidentally from the test stand are quite rare and different from previous aerospace accidents. The cause of this accident may be that the rocket's calculated thrust was too small, causing the actual thrust to exceed the test stand's carrying capacity, or there may be some problems with the operation or the test stand that caused the rocket's thrust to exceed the test stand's limit. If the rocket's position is slightly off, it may crash into the residential area. The consequences would be unimaginable. Afterwards, the state may require all domestic rocket test stands to be relocated away from densely populated areas to ensure that this type of uncontrolled accident does not happen again.

"This accident may have a certain impact on domestic private aerospace companies, and relevant approvals may be stricter in the future," the investor said.

Established in 2019, Tianbing Technology is a Chinese private commercial aerospace company. The company is mainly committed to the research and development of a new generation of liquid rocket engines and medium and large-sized liquid launch vehicles. In April last year, Tianbing Technology's Long March II carrier rocket was successfully launched from China's Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. Most of its core team members come from China Aerospace Science and Technology and China Aerospace Science and Industry.

Tianbing Technology's founder and chairman Kang Yonglai has been engaged in the research and development of carrier rocket technology and project management for nearly 20 years and is a typical scientist entrepreneur.

Kang Yonglai previously served as the director of the carrier rocket general research department, deputy chief designer, and chief engineer of China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology. As the youngest research and development director and deputy chief designer in the history of the Academy, Kang Yonglai was in charge of the overall demonstration and design work for Dongfeng-17 hypersonic missiles and Long March XI carrier rockets.

"Essentially, commercial rockets are transportation tools, and their core is to make the rockets larger through industrial means to reduce costs. To operate rockets like a manufacturing industry is to achieve large-scale, low-cost, and high-reliability. "

In the five years since its inception, Tianbing Technology has completed 15 rounds of financing and received more than 4 billion yuan in funding. Its star-studded backers include China Securities, CITIC Securities, National Investment Funds, Haitong Creative Capital, Innoangel Fund, Qidi Investment, among others.

The latest financing is the newly added C+ round financing of more than 1.5 billion yuan at the beginning of this month, which was jointly completed by many well-known institutions such as Liangxi Science and Technology Industry Mother Fund (Bohua Capital Management), Wuxi Chanfa, Guoyu Gaohua, De Yue Investment, Qianzhan Investment, China Securities Co., Ltd., Tudou Investment, Hefei Ruicheng, Suzhou Asset Management, Shoufa Development Ventures, Guotou Taikang, and Zhongcai Tenghua.