Chinese private rocket company Deep Blue Aerospace announced that its Nebula-1 rocket failed to complete a high-altitude recovery test.

While the rocket met 10 out of 11 objectives during the vertical takeoff and landing trial, it crashed during the final landing phase due to a malfunction in the landing mechanism.

The three engines initially performed well, but complications arose during descent, leading to a hard landing, Interesting Engineering has reported.

Images showed significant damage, including the upper section breaking off and fire damage to the rocket’s exterior.

Written by B.C. Begley