The China Great Wall Industries Corp is reported by Space News to have revealed the cause of the Long March 4B launch failure in December 2013. According to the report, the launch failure which destroyed the CBERS 3 (China Brazil Earth Resources Satellite 3) was caused by the premature shutdown of one of two YF-40 third stage engines. This was, in turn, caused by a blockage in a fuel line inlet. The blockage was due to debris clogging the inlet. The exact nature of the debris is unknown but believed to have been caused by either a manufacturing error or produced by the pressurization feeding system. New quality control procedures have been introduced to make sure that this fault does not happen again.
Long March 4B/CBERS-3 launch failure was caused by fuel line blockage
About Seradata
Seradata produces the renowned Seradata database. Trusted by over 100 of the world’s leading Space organisations, Seradata is a fully queryable database used for market analysis, failure/risk assessment, spectrum analysis and space situational awareness (SSA).
For more information go to https://www.seradata.com/product/
Related Articles
We are cutting through the orbital debris for you. In other words, we're keeping an eye on space news on Read more
We are cutting through the orbital debris for you. In other words, we're keeping an eye on space news on Read more
The ‘stranded’ pair of NASA astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, finally returned to Earth on 18 March bringing an Read more
Rockets have carried humans around the world, mainly in low Earth orbits (LEO), and even, on occasion, to the Moon Read more
We are cutting through the orbital debris for you. In other words, we're keeping an eye on space news on Read more
We are cutting through the orbital debris for you. In other words, we're keeping an eye on space news on Read more
After almost a decade in development the maiden flight of New Glenn, NG-1, was a success. However, the icing on Read more
We are cutting through the orbital debris for you. In other words, we're keeping an eye on space news on Read more
We are cutting through the orbital debris for you. In other words, we're keeping an eye on space news on Read more
Stay Informed with Seradata
Stay informed on the latest news, insights, and more from Seradata by signing up for our newsletter.