China on Sunday announced the launch of a powerful rocket designed to carry communication satellites into orbit had been “unsuccessful”, in a glitch for the country’s ambitious space programme.

The Long March-5 Y2, Beijing’s second heavy-lift rocket, blasted off at 7:23 pm (1123 GMT) Sunday from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in the tropical island province of Hainan

“Abnormity was detected during the flight of the rocket,” the Xinhua news agency reported.
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“Further investigation will be carried out,” the report added, without giving any further details.

Capable of carrying up to 25 tonnes, the Long March-5 Y2 had taken off with the Shijian-18 experimental communications satellite (7.5 tonnes), which it was supposed to put into orbit.

It said the satellite will operate on geosynchronous orbit and provide communications services over China’s territory — boosting internet access and providing access to more television channels.

China successfully launched the Long March-5 from the same Wenchang center in November 2016, which it said at the time was the most powerful launcher it had yet developed.

Beijing sees its multi-billion-dollar space programme as a symbol of its rise and of the Communist Party’s success in turning around the fortunes of the once poverty-stricken nation.

Last month it successfully launched the Long March-4B, its first X-ray space telescope to study black holes, pulsars and gamma-ray bursts.

And in April, the country’s first cargo spacecraft completed its docking with an orbiting space lab — a key development toward China’s goal of having its own crewed space station by 2022.