Posted: Sun, Mar 17, 2024, 8:56 AM ET (1256 GMT)
A malfunction during a Chinese launch Wednesday may have doomed two lunar spacecraft. A Long March 2C rocket lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 8:51 am EDT (1251 GMT), but there was no official report of the launch until early Thursday, when Chinese media said there was a malfunction with the rocket's Yuanzheng-1S upper stage. The rocket was carrying the DRO-A and -B satellites, intended to test lunar navigation technologies, likely in a distant retrograde orbit around the moon. It's unclear what orbit the spacecraft are in now and if their mission can be salvaged.

Related Links:

•  SpaceNews article
•  Xinhua article