China's Long March 7A rocket explodes 85 seconds after liftoff: Here's what happened

China's developing space program has suffered a significant setback after the country’s Long March 7A rocket experienced a catastrophic malfunction, resulting in a spectacular failure of the rocket and loss of the communication satellite it carried (ChinaSat-4B) shortly after it lifted off from China's Wenchang Space Launch Center located in Hainan at approximately 20:02 PM local time on Monday, August 10.

Videos obtained by social media users show the rocket disintegrating in mid-air and exploding violently over the launch site. Reports based upon video of the event indicated the failure to occur roughly 1 minute 25 seconds into flight.

The Long March 7A rocket was carrying the ChinaSat-4B communications satellite. This communications satellite will help provide communications services. 

In addition, reports indicate the satellite has both civilian and military uses.

Xinhua News Agency reported that the "rocket experienced an anomaly during flight" and as such; the mission to place the ChinaSat-4B communications satellite into orbit failed. An investigation to determine why the rocket failed is currently underway.

Long March 7A is one of China's medium-lift rockets designed to carry satellites into geosynchronous transfer orbit. 

On March 2, 2020 the first Long March 7A suffered a similar fate, ending its maiden voyage early due to mechanical issues. Therefore this is the second failure of the Long March 7A rocket.

No official explanation exists regarding the reason behind the failure. 

Prior to making any determination analysts will conduct a thorough examination of each component of the rocket including engines, structural integrity and timing of each element prior to determining the root cause of failure.