China’s commercial rocket company Deep Blue Aerospace tested the first stage of a launch vehicle on Sunday, experiencing a partial failure in the final moments of landing. Deep Blue Aerospace conducted the test at 1:40 a.m. Eastern Time (0540 UTC) on September 22 at the Ejin Banner Space Center in Inner Mongolia, using the first stage of its Nebula-1 rocket.

Footage from the vertical takeoff and vertical landing test shows the rocket climbing to a target altitude before shutting down two of its three engines for the 179-second flight.

The landing gear deployed as planned and the stage hovered over the intended landing area. However, an anomaly during the final engine shutdown caused the landing altitude to be higher than expected, resulting in partial damage.

Despite this setback, Deep Blue Aerospace emphasized the positive aspects by saying in a statement that the Nebula-1 stage had successfully completed 10 of the 11 basic verification tasks for the flight. The landing accuracy was about 0.5 meters. It was also added that innovations in the field of attitude control, orbit optimization and millimeter precision guidance were successfully tested.

This was China’s first high-altitude VTVL test using an orbital-class rocket platform. The company will now prepare for a new VTVL test scheduled for November.

The first stage of Nebula-1 uses nine Thunder-R kerosene-liquid-oxygen engines. Three engines were used in Sunday’s VTVL test flight. For the flight, the rocket was loaded with one-fifth of its fuel supply.

The company conducted a successful VTVL kilometer test in May 2022. However, this is the first time the Thunder-R engine has been used for orbital launches. The company says this test is a step towards further flight tests at an altitude of 100 km, as well as orbital launch and re-orbit tests.

Deep Blue Aerospace also stressed that the test was conducted in strict accordance with the requirements of missile test safety management and was conducted in an isolated area in the Gobi desert. China’s commercial launch company Space Pioneer narrowly escaped disaster in June when the first stage of the Tianlong 3 achieved a dramatic success during a static fire test near populated areas.

The Nebula-1 orbital rocket is a two-stage rocket with a diameter of 3.35 meters. It will be capable of launching 2,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit (LEO), while an improved version will be able to lift 8,000 kilograms to LEO. Deep Blue Aerospace is also working on the larger Nebula-2 rocket. It will be able to deliver a 20,000 kilogram payload to the ISS.

The trial follows recent successful tests of VTVL by Chinese companies. Recently, commercial company Landspace conducted a 10km test of its Chuke-3 launch vehicle, including engine restarts. State-owned company SAST reached 12km in June.

The activity comes as China works to build reusable missiles and boost its launch capabilities. The country needs to significantly increase the number of launches to build planned low-orbit mega-constellations such as the Gouwang and G60/Thousand Sails.

Deep Blue Aerospace received strategic funding in August, following an earlier round of funding in May. Last year, the Chinese central government identified commercial aviation and space as a key industry for the future. 2024 has seen a series of major funding rounds for commercial space companies. The central government’s announcement was also followed by strong support from local governments for the commercial space in China.