On August 3 at 07:43 UTC, an iSpace Hyperbola 1 rocket launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China; however, it failed to achieve the proper orbit.

This was the third flight of a Hyperbola 1 rocket and the second consecutive failure. For whatever reason, it was called Y5 or vehicle 5. iSpace is a private-sector Chinese company but receives significant support from the Chinese government through its state aerospace company China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation in the form of solid motors from military missiles which iSpace uses to make its orbital rockets.

Hyperbola 1 can put 300 kilograms into orbit, but iSpace has plans to make rockets with motors built by the company. Hyperbola 2 will be a much larger methane- and oxygen-fueled vehicle that will be capable of putting about two metric tons into low orbit. Much like SpaceX’s Falcon 9, Hyperbola 2 will land its first stage for reuse rather than letting it fall in the ocean. Future variants of that rocket will see additional first stages added as boosters, similar to the Falcon Heavy.

Based on comments from users on the Chinese spaceflight forum 9ifly, it appears that Hyperbola 1’s fourth stage did not achieve the proper orbit, and the payload fairing was apparently still attached, meaning the satellite could not separate from the rocket. This is consistent with reports by China’s state media, Xinhua, which stated that “the performance was abnormal, and the satellite did not enter orbit as scheduled.” The United States Space Forces’ 18th Space Control Squadron, the unit that does surveillance of objects in orbit, did not track any objects in orbit associated with the launch, so whatever orbit it managed was short-lived.

The satellite payload was likely the first Jilin-01A Mofang “Magic Cube”, the fourth generation of Jilin-type optical remote sensing satellites. It is significantly lighter than the first generation of Jilin-1 satellites, weighing just 18 kilograms compared to 420 kilograms while managing to provide a ground resolution of one meter.

No launch video was provided; the best we could find was a very low-quality photo of the rocket’s plume after liftoff.

More Information

Flight test of China’s commercial carrier rocket fails (Xinhua)

Hyperbola-1 (iSpace)

Launch failed • Hyperbola-1 Y5 • JL-1-Cube-01A (SpaceFlightFans)

StarCraft Glory – Hyperbola info page (Global Security)

Shian Quxian-1 info page (Gunter’s Space Page)