Why China’s next Long March 5 rocket mission will be about restoring national pride
- Largest carrier rocket in Chinese fleet understood to be standing by after setbacks
- On its maiden mission in November 2016, the rocket failed to reach the speed required for the early phase of the flight
A Long March 5 rocket is expected to blast off from a site in southern China this month carrying not only a next-generation communications satellite, but the hope that the mission will restore pride in the programme after a series of setbacks.
One of the sources who confirmed the plan said that the atmosphere at Wenchang Space Launch Centre on the northern tip of Hainan Island was “so tense there seems to be a shortage of oxygen”.
The Long March 5 – also known as the CZ-5 – is the largest launch vehicle in China’s space fleet. It can carry 25 tonnes into low Earth orbit, typically 645-1,610km (400-1,000 miles) from the surface.
Engineers designed the CZ-5 to carry up to 32 tonnes, but it has not been tested with such a payload. If it could lift off with 32 tonnes, the CZ-5 would carry more than the US’ Delta IV Heavy, Russia’s Proton, and Europe’s Ariane 5.
But the CZ-5 is also the least reliable, as earlier missions showed.
On its maiden mission in November 2016, the rocket failed to reach the speed required for the early phase of the flight; still, extra booster fuel burned in the final stage lifted its satellite cargo into orbit and allowed China to declare the trip a success.