See it: Lightning strikes Chinese rocket after liftoff
Photographer Zhou Quan captured a detailed image of the lightning bolt connecting with the lower portion of the rocket. Despite the dramatic encounter, the satellite reached its planned transfer orbit.
The weather brought its own fireworks before the Fourth of July as lightning flashed over the New York City skyline at sunset on July 3.
A bolt of lightning struck a Chinese rocket shortly after liftoff Thursday, but the launch vehicle continued its flight and successfully delivered a satellite into orbit.
The Long March 3B rocket lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwestern China at 8 p.m. local time Thursday. It was carrying the Tianlian-2 06 data-relay satellite, which will support communications between ground stations and China’s Tiangong space station.
Video shows the final seconds of the countdown before the rocket rises above the surrounding mountain landscape. Roughly 40 seconds into the flight, a bright bolt appears to strike the rocket as it continues climbing through the clouds.
A Long March-3B carrier rocket carrying the Tianlian II-06 satellite blasts off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center on July 23, 2026 in Xichang, Sichuan Province of China. The Tianlian II-06 satellite was launched at 8 p.m. (Beijing Time) aboard a Long March-3B carrier rocket and entered its planned orbit. This was the 658th flight mission of the Long March carrier rocket series. (Photo by Zhou Quan/VCG via Getty Images)
Photographer Zhou Quan captured a detailed image of the lightning bolt connecting with the lower portion of the rocket. Despite the dramatic encounter, the satellite reached its planned transfer orbit.
Lightning poses a significant danger during launches because a rocket traveling through an electrically charged cloud can trigger a strike. NASA and other United States launch agencies follow a detailed set of weather rules known as the Lightning Launch Commit Criteria, which are designed to protect rockets from natural and triggered lightning.
One of the most famous launch-related lightning incidents occurred in November 1969, when the Saturn V rocket carrying the Apollo 12 astronauts was struck twice, 36.5 seconds and 52 seconds after liftoff. The strikes temporarily disrupted several spacecraft systems, but the crew recovered and completed NASA’s second successful mission to land astronauts on the moon.
The incident prompted additional launch weather restrictions. Those rules were extensively strengthened after triggered lightning struck Atlas-Centaur 67 in 1987, causing the rocket and its payload to be lost. The event helped shape the Lightning Launch Commit Criteria still used by U.S. launch companies today.
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