A Chinese space rocket crashed into a mountain on Sunday after blasting off without warning during a test of its engines, according to dramatic footage captured by onlookers. 

The Tianlong-3 rocket, developed by a rival to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, took off unexpectedly during what was intended to be a ground test of its booster. 

Spectacular footage published on Chinese social media shows the rocket booster blasting into the air before its engines appear to shut down and flames erupt from the launcher.

The rocket, owned by the private Chinese business Space Pioneer, subsequently fell back to earth and crashed into a hilly area near the city of Gongyi in Henan Province. 

State media said no casualties had been reported. 

The botched launch was supposed to be a routine “static fire” of the rocket’s engine with the vehicle remaining on its launch pad. 

However Space Pioneer said a “structural failure” of the launch moorings designed to hold the rocket in place resulted in a surprise launch.

The company said that after the misfire the onboard computer shut down the rocket – which led to it crashing into the hills 1.5km from the test site. 

It added that the crash site was “far away from the urban area of Gongyi”.

However, videos on social media from the city showed stunned residents filming the rocket dramatically plunging to earth.

Founded in 2019 Space Pioneer has been attempting to launch a Chinese challenge to SpaceX’s Falcon 9 vehicles, developing a reusable rocket booster that can return to Earth.