A Chinese rocket carrying a communications satellite failed in its launch, state media said, attributing the failure to a “flight anomaly” as reports and videos suggested the spacecraft had exploded in mid-air. China’s Long March 7A carrier rocket exploded on Monday, August 10, 2026. Monday’s rare launch failure involved a Long March 7A carrier rocket, which lifted off from the Wenchang Space Launch Site in China’s southernmost province of Hainan at 8:02 pm (1202 GMT), state news agency Xinhua said. An “anomaly” occurred when the rocket, which was carrying the Zhongxing-4B communications satellite, was in flight, Xinhua added. China’s maiden launch of the Long March 7A from the Wenchang site in 2020 was also unsuccessful after “a malfunction occurred”, Xinhua reported in March that year.