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The first-ever attempt by a private Chinese company to a rocket into space has failed in an increasingly heated competition between commercial space start-ups.
On Saturday, Beijing-based start-up LandSpace said "something happened after the second stage" of launching its Zhuque-1 rocket from a national launch site in the Gobi Desert. The rocket, named after a mythological Chinese phoenix, had been carrying a commercial satellite for state broadcaster CCTV.
Despite its doomed trajectory, the red-and-white rocket reflects the increased blurring between China's private and state-of-the-art hardware companies as the country's private sector to develop globally competitive dual-use technologies.
Closer ties between civilian and military efforts, part of a sweeping military modernization initiated by the Chinese People's Liberation Army, China's fighting force.
So-called "civil military fusion" has been most apparent in the space industry. Until recently, only Chinese state-owned firms were permitted to build, launch and operate satellites. In 2014, new rules started to allow private companies to participate.
"Fu Zhimin, chief engineer at China Aerospace Industry and Industry Corp., China's top space and defense contractor, told state media last month.
Since 2014, a handful of private Chinese space startups, have been fully trained. At stake is a $ 420bn commercial space industry centring around the lucrative business of sending small commercial satellites.
However, it does not matter where it is in China with its own secure communications and global positioning system (GPS).
"If you build the satellite and encryption," explained Keith Hayward, head of research at the Royal Aeronautical Society in the UK.
LandSpace's failed launch comes on the heels of China's first two suborbital rocket launches, meaning the rockets entered space but did not complete a revolution around Earth.
On September 5, start-up iSpace became the first Chinese start-up to launch a suborbital rocket. Only two days later, OneSpace, OneSpace, one of the fastest growing companies in the industry. Aviation Industry Corporation of China, successfully completed its first suborbital rocket launch.
Follow Emily Feng on Twitter @emilyzfeng
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