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China's Space Program Faces Setback with Double Rocket Failures

1/20/2026

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Summary

Story summary

On January 19, 2026, two Chinese rocket launches failed, signaling a setback for China’s space program.
The first involved a Long March-3B rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre, which lost the Shijian-32 satellite due to a third-stage malfunction.
This ended a streak of launches since April 2020.
Later that day, Galactic Energy's Ceres-2 maiden flight crashed, destroying commercial satellites.

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Story summary

On January 19, 2026, two Chinese rocket launches failed, signaling a setback for China’s space program.
The first involved a Long March-3B rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre, which lost the Shijian-32 satellite due to a third-stage malfunction.
This ended a streak of launches since April 2020.
Later that day, Galactic Energy's Ceres-2 maiden flight crashed, destroying commercial satellites.