China's newest space rocket fails

The debut mission of China's newest carrier rocket – Long March 7A – failed on Monday night.

The 60.1-meter rocket blasted off at 9:34 pm from a launch pad in the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province but experienced malfunctions during the flight, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

The report quoted space authority sources as saying that an investigation will look into the failure, without elaborating.

The mission was meant to be the 328th flight of the Long March rocket series.

According to the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology in Beijing, the leading rocket developer in the country, the Long March 7A is tasked with sending satellites to high-altitude orbits such as the geosynchronous transfer orbit and inclined geosynchronous orbit. It can also be used to carry out missions to the moon, Mars or asteroids.