China’s Tianlong-3 Rocket Fails on First Launch, Exposing Fragility in Commercial Space Ambitions

According to SpaceNews, on April 3, the maiden launch of the Tianlong-3, China’s most powerful commercial rocket to date, ended in failure minutes after liftoff. Within hours, shares across the country’s commercial space sector fell sharply and in a bakery somewhere in China, a custom-ordered celebration cake sat untouched, its message of triumph rendered obsolete.