Chinese rockets are the most reliable in the world
For thirteen years, there wasn't a single Long March failure. A partial failure occurred on August 31, 2009. This is an unbeatable record. Contrast China's reliable Long March rockets to Russia's FIVE failures in 2011 alone.
Long March (rocket family) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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For thirteen years, between August 1996 and August 2009, 75 consecutive successful launches were conducted, ending with the launch of Palapa-D on August 31, 2009, which partially failed due to a third stage malfunction.[4] On October 15, 2003, the Long March 2F rocket successfully launched the Shenzhou 5 spacecraft/orbiter carrying China's first astronaut into space; China thus became the third nation to send a person in space independently, after the Soviet Union/Russia and the United States. A Long March 2F launched the Shenzhou 6 with two astronauts on October 12, 2005. On June 1, 2007, Long March rockets completed the 100th launch. On October 24, 2007, the Long March 3A successfully launched (18:05 GMT+8) the "Chang'e 1" lunar orbiting spacecraft from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. On September 25, 2008, a Long March 2F launched Shenzhou 7, China's first three-man mission and first EVA mission."
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Russia Botches Another Rocket Launch : Discovery News
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Russia Botches Another Rocket Launch
Analysis by Irene Klotz
Fri Dec 23,
2011 03:46 PM ET
Three hours before a new crew arrived at the International Space Station on Friday, bringing the outpost back up to full staff for the first time in months,
Russia racked up its fifth launch accident within a year.
A Soyuz-2 rocket carrying a military communications satellite failed to reach orbit after blastoff from the Plesetsk space center in northern Russia. The botched launch is again due to an upper-stage engine problem.
Though the motor is different from the one used on the Soyuz rockets that fly Progress cargo and Soyuz capsules to the station, the trend is troubling.
"There are problems," Vladimir Popovkin, head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, said through a translator at a press conference at the Russian Mission Control Center outside Moscow and broadcast on NASA Television following the arrival of the new space station crew.
"There is aging of many resources. We need to optimize everything. We need to modernize," Popovkin said.
"It’s also aging of human resources," he added. 'Given the troubles we had in the '90s, quite a lot of people left and nobody came to replace them.' (article continues)"
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