Moon miss: Two Chinese test satellites fail to reach orbit after rocket’s upper stage falters

China said a pair of its technology test satellites failed to reach a planned orbit on their way to the moon – a rare miss in the country’s space mission launch record in recent years.

DRO-A and B lifted off atop a Long March 2C from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre at 8.51pm on Wednesday. The rocket’s first and second stages worked normally, but its Yuanzheng-1S upper stage did not, state news agency Xinhua reported on Thursday.