FAILURE: Jilin-1 Gaofen-02C - KZ-1A - Jiuquan - September 12, 2020 (05:02 UTC)

[Svetoslav]

Indeed. And we can also include the Simorgh launcher.

And the situation is quite different compared to 70s-80s. Back them, quite a lot of planetary launches failed. Now we have all three missions to Mars launched successfully. Solar Orbiter too. We haven't had a failure of a crewed craft, thanks goodness.

Truly, most of the failures today affect new rockets.

[Liss]

Images from 9ifly:

[SciNews]

There was an initial report of a successful launch, but it has been deleted.
"Jilin-1 Gaofen 02C satellite launched successfully
At 13:02 on September 12, 2020, China successfully launched the "jilin-1" Gaofen 02C satellite (also known as "Inner Mongolia-1" satellite) into the scheduled orbit with Kuaizhou-1A carrier rocket at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, and the launch was successful.
Jilin-1 Gaofen 02C satellite is a high-resolution optical remote sensing satellite, which is developed by Changguang Satellite Technology Co., Ltd. It is mainly used to obtain high-resolution color static images of earth observation. Its panchromatic resolution is better than 0.76 meters, and its width is more than 40 kilometers. It will provide a reference for land and resources monitoring, mineral resources development, forestry resources survey, ecological environment monitoring and other fields in China For commercial remote sensing services.
Kuaizhou-1A launch vehicle is a small solid launch vehicle developed by Aerospace Science and industry Rocket Technology Co., Ltd., which belongs to aerospace Sanjiang group of China Aerospace Science and Industry Group Co., Ltd. It mainly provides launch service for low orbit small satellites, and has the characteristics of high orbit accuracy, short preparation period and low launch cost.
This mission is the 10th launch of the kuaizhou-1a carrier rocket."

[daedalus1]

Indeed. And we can also include the Simorgh launcher.

And the situation is quite different compared to 70s-80s. Back them, quite a lot of planetary launches failed. Now we have all three missions to Mars launched successfully. Solar Orbiter too. We haven't had a failure of a crewed craft, thanks goodness.

Truly, most of the failures today affect new rockets.

Off topic but, Soyuz 10 Oct 2018 abort to orbit. So not true about manned spacecraft.

[input~2]

NOTAMs# A3505/20 & A3506/20 for Sept 17 and 22 are still up at 0840Z

[Galactic Penguin SST]

The lack of statements even up to now seems to indicate probable scenarios of something other than a full rocket failure - remember that in cases of partial failures (e.g. ChinaSat 9A) or even good rocket flight but satellite failure (e.g. ChinaSat 18) their local media often treats the cases in the same way.

Nothing reported from USAF 18SPCS on tracking data yet.

[otter]

From Xinhua

http://www.xinhuanet.com/2020-09/12/c_1126486097.htm

web translation:

"Jilin One" Gaofen 02C satellite launch failed

2020-09-12 17:54:38 Source: Xinhuanet

Xinhua News Agency, Jiuquan, September 12th. At 13:2 on September 12th, our country used the Kuaizhou-1A carrier rocket to launch the "Jilin-1" Gaofen 02C satellite at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The rocket flight was abnormal and the launch mission failed. The specific reasons are being further analyzed and investigated.

[Steven Pietrobon]

So, 72 launchers so far with eight failures, giving a failure rate of 11%!

[Alter Sachse]

The second Jilin Gaofen satellite lost this year.

[otter]

China's launch of new satellite fails

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-09/12/c_139363535.htm

JIUQUAN, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Optical remote-sensing satellite Jilin-1 Gaofen 02C, which was launched aboard the Kuaizhou-1A carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at 13:02 p.m. (Beijing time) on Saturday, failed to enter the preset orbit.

Abnormal performance was identified during the rocket's flight, said the launch center.

The cause of the failure is under investigation.

[Alter Sachse]

According to baidu.com it was KZ-1A Y3.

[Galactic Penguin SST]

There's a rumor that it was the liquid upper stage that had failed here.

[Chris Bergin]

Rui's article:
https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1304750005924892672

[zubenelgenubi]

Unfortunately, the Astra launch from Kodiak, a few minutes ago, failed.
This launch is the second orbital launch scheduled today (UTC).

Two orbital launch failures in one UTC day.
(The water has been muddied whether or not Astra Rocket 3.1 was even capable of putting the upper stage into orbit.)
Is that some kind of record?

[Liss]

Last time it occured on 21 Jun 2005.

[zubenelgenubi]

According to baidu.com it was KZ-1A Y3.

According to Chinese sources for the 3 launches of the Jilin-Gaofen satellites KZ-1A Y3
Y4 and Y5 are used.