Article Posted on : - Sep 06, 2011

A file photo.

BEIJING (PTI): The technical glitch that resulted failure of the Long March rocket putting a Chinese satellite in a designated orbit last month has been identified, space officials said.

Malfunction in connection in the servomechanism and second stage venire engine caused failure in second flight phase of the rocket, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation said in a statement.

China’s experimental orbiter SJ-11-04, which was launched by a Long March II-C rocket on August 18, failed to enter the designated orbit due to a glitch in the rocket.

The rocket malfunction occurred during the flight after it was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest Gansu Province.

This was the first time the Long March II-C rocket, regarded as the trusted workhorse of Chinese space programme, has failed after 35 successful launches.

It was second time that China failed to put its satellite in proper orbit since 1996 after it developed its space applications modelled on the Russian technology.

China has expanded its space programme at a rapid pace in recent months by firing a number of satellites, including that of a communication satellite, for its close ally Pakistan on August 12.

PAKSAT-1R, which will provide a range of services, including broadband Internet, telecom and broadcasting, was built and financed by China.

Later, it successfully launched a maritime satellite at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre on August 16.

The satellite was meant for the supervision and survey of the maritime environment, an important measure for prevention and reduction of maritime disasters, the official media said.

China also announced plans to launch a communications satellite in the coming years with the finance. It will be funded by the country's banks.

Besides emerging as world’s third nation to put man in space after US and Russia, China had last year sent lunar probe, Chang’e-II as a prelude to its plans to send a rover to explore Moon’s surface followed by a manned lunar mission.