CHINA’S LITTLE SPACE FAILURE WITH LARGE IMPLICATIONS:

On July 10, 2020 China’s new KZ (Kuaizhou)-11 solid-fuel satellite launcher failed about a minute after its first commercial launch when the third stage motor failed to ignite. This KZ-11 was carrying two satellites, which were lost. This first launch was supposed to have been in 2018 but there were technical delays. A second KZ-11 launch was already scheduled for late in 2020 and it is not yet known if that will be delayed. The 78-ton KZ-11 is a larger commercial version of the military LM (Long March) 11.

It’s a setback for China. China intends to become the major player in the commercial satellite launch business, but the StrategyPage update points out it’s done that with liquid fuel rockets. Now China is trying to move to solid fuel birds — but problems are occurring.