Specially developed for China's manned space program, Long March-5B will be mainly used to launch the modules of the space station.
China’s new large carrier rocket Long March-5B made its maiden flight on Tuesday, sending the trial version of China’s new-generation manned spaceship and a cargo return capsule for test into space.
China declared the launch a success, as the country paves its way for its ambitions to operate a permanent space station and send astronauts to the Moon.
The rocket took off from the Wenchang launch site on the southern island of Hainan and eight minutes later an unmanned prototype spacecraft successfully separated and entered its planned orbit, Xinhua reported.
The successful flight inaugurated the “third step” of China’s manned space program, which is to construct a space station, said the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).
Further, China intends to launch its Tianwen-1 mission, which will send the countrys first lander and rover to Mars, as well as a spacecraft that will orbit the Red Planet later this summer.
The successful launch comes after a Chinese Long March 3B rocket failed en route to space and was not able to properly deploy the Indonesian communications satellite in April. In March, the first launch of a Long March 7A rocket also failed and didnt put a classified Chinese satellite into orbit.
