. 24/7 Space News .
New Rocket Set To Blast Off By 2013

Long March file image.
by Staff Writers
Beijing (XNA) Nov 21, 2007
The country's next-generation launch vehicles for heavyweight satellites or space stations will be ready to blast off by 2013, a senior official has said. The Long March 5 launch vehicle, to be made in the Binhai New Area of the northern coastal city of Tianjin, will be 59.4 meters long, with a launch weight of 643 tons and a lift-off thrust of 825 tons, Zhang Yanhe, deputy director of the Tianjin Office of Science Technology and Industry for National Defense, said.

The diameter will be increased to 5 meters from 3.35 meters in the current-generation Long March 3 series.

Zhang said the new rockets will be able to carry up to 25 tons to near-Earth orbits, up from the current 9 tons; and 14 tons to geosynchronous orbits, up from 5 tons. "Such carriers can launch heavyweight satellites or even space stations, which the current Long March 3-A rockets cannot handle," Zhang told China Daily.

A 200-hectare rocket-building base is under construction in Binhai, and Zhang said work on production of the new rockets will start in December 2009 as soon as the construction is completed.

"Research and tests on key technologies of the new rockets have been completed. According to our initial schedule, the rocket will be ready for its first lift-off about five years from now," he said.

Zhang revealed that the construction of the base will cost about 4.5 billion yuan ($529 million).

"The capability of the base can be expanded for even bigger rockets of diameters of 8 meters or even 10 meters," he said.

Complementing the rocket-building base is a launch center under construction at Wenchang, South China's Hainan Province.

Currently, the country has three launch centers in Gansu, Shanxi and Sichuan, all inland. The construction of the Wenchang base is expected to finish by 2012.

Source: Xinhua News Agency

Community
Email This Article
Comment On This Article

Related Links
The Chinese Space Program - News, Policy and Technology
China News from SinoDaily.com



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


Chinese plan manned space launch
Beijing (UPI) Nov 20, 2007
Chinese space officials announced Tuesday a manned spacecraft is scheduled to be launched in October 2008, shortly after the Beijing Olympic Games.







  • Jogging To Mars
  • SPACEHAB Supporting Key Milestones Under NASA Space Act Agreement
  • Brazil to invest 28 bln dollars in science and technology: Lula
  • Orbital Outfitters Debuts IS3C - First-Ever Fully Functional Commercial Pressure Spacesuit

  • Mars Express Creates First Global Map Of Martian Ionosphere
  • Rover Finds Way To Brush Rock Surfaces Despite Setbacks
  • Spirit Continues Drive As Power Levels Decline
  • Opportunity's Rock Abrasion Tool Shows Anomalous Behavior

  • Lockheed Martin-Built Sirius 4 Launched Successfully From Baikonur Cosmodrome
  • First Soyuz Launch From Kourou Set For 2009
  • Sea Launch Resumes Countdown for Thuraya-3 Launch
  • Ground Broken For New Test Launch Pad

  • TRMM Turns Ten - Studying Precipitation From Space
  • Rosetta: OSIRIS' View Of Earth By Night
  • Strange Space Weather Over Africa
  • KAGUYA Captures The Earth Rising Over The Moon

  • Data For The Next Generations
  • Goddard Instrument Makes Cover Of Science
  • Checking Out New Horizons
  • Pluto-Bound New Horizons Sees Changes In Jupiter System

  • Watching Galaxies Grow Old Gracefully
  • Record-busting supernova prompts new ideas on death of stars
  • Cosmological Data Affected By An Unexpected Source Of Radiation In Interstellar Space
  • A Galaxy For Science And Research

  • SKorea to join Asian space race: science ministry
  • Astronomers Say Moons Like Ours Are Uncommon
  • Chang'e-1 Opens Facilities For Data Transmission
  • Moon Rocket Parachute Tests A Success

  • Raytheon Completes Test To Begin Improving Accuracy Of GPS Signals Over India
  • German chancellor says satnav financing plan to be drafted soon
  • GPS Chipset Shipments To Grow From 110 Million To 725 Million Units In 2011
  • Providence Health And Services Chooses WWT and AeroScout For Wireless Asset Tracking Solution

  • The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2007 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement