Tianlong

Chinese commercial kerolox small-lift orbital rocket

Space Pioneer's Tianlong-2 became the first private Chinese rocket with a liquid-fuel first stage to reach orbit, in April 2023. Its successor had a more dramatic debut: a Tianlong-3 first stage broke free from its test stand during a static fire in June 2024 and made an unintended flight before crashing into hills outside Gongyi — a spectacular reminder of what can go wrong when a rocket's thrust exceeds what the stand was built to hold.