China launches large carrier rocket

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

China's latest large carrier rocket made its first successful flight on May 5, regarded as a significant step in the country’s plan to build a space station, according to state-run news agency Xinhua.

The Long March-5B rocket was reported to have blasted off from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in South China's Hainan province, sending an unmanned prototype spacecraft and a cargo return capsule successfully into orbit. 

The new rocket model, measured around 53.7 meters in length and weighed around 849 tonnes at takeoff, has been described as a variant of the Long March-5, possessing the capacity to carry larger payloads of upto 22 tonnes into low-Earth orbit. 

The Long March-5B is equipped with guidance, navigation and control technology that mean its trajectory can be adjusted continuously. 

China, having launched its first manned space flight in 2003, has scheduled to send Long March-5 for first Mars probe and the Chang'e-5 lunar probe to collect moon samples and return to Earth later this year.