posted 09-21-2015 07:44 AM               

The CZ-6 rocket was delivered to the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre (TSLC) in August 2015. The launch was originally scheduled for 07:00 CST on 19 September (18 September, 23:00 UTC). However, the launch was aborted at T minus 10 minutes due to a technical issue. 24 hours later, at 07:01 CST on 20 September (19 September, 23:01 UTC), the rocket finally lifted off, lofting a multi-payload of 20 micro- and nano-satellites into orbit.

posted 01-18-2016 03:31 PM               

"China's new generation carrier rockets, Long March 7 and Long March 5, will make their respective maiden flights in June and at the end of September to the beginning of October in 2016," said Lei Fanpei, the chairman of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASC).

According to a CASC statement, Long March 5 is currently being tested at Wenchang Space Launch Center in south China's Hainan province. The current focus for Long March 7 is rocket production for the maiden flight.

posted 06-25-2016 08:10 AM               

China successfully launches its new generation carrier rocket Long March-7, ushering in China's space lab mission.

posted 06-26-2016 01:18 PM               

A reentry module aboard carrier rocket Long March-7 touches down successfully in Badain Jaran Desert in north China.

posted 11-03-2016 10:19 AM               

The Long March 5, which stands 187 feet (57 meters) tall is capable of lofting 27.6 tons (25 metric tons) to low-Earth orbit (LEO) and 15.4 tons (14 metric tons) to geostationary transfer orbit, according to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp.

Thursday's maiden launch carried Shijian-17, an experimental satellite designed to test electric-propulsion technology.

posted 07-02-2017 11:26 AM               

An anomaly occurred during the flight of the rocket, which blasted off at 7:23 p.m. [local time; (7:23 a.m. EDT or 1123 GMT] from Wenchang Space Launch Center in southern province of Hainan.

The Long March 5 is key to China's plans for a space station, as well as its robotic missions to the moon and Mars, as Spaceflight Now describes:

The two-stage heavy-lift launcher's next mission was slated to dispatch the Chang'e 5 mission to collect soil and rock specimens from the lunar surface in November. The probe will launch a return capsule from the moon to bring the samples back to to Earth.

It was not clear Sunday how the launch failure will affect the scheduled launch of Chang'e 5, China's most ambitious robotic deep space mission to date, and the first lunar sample return attempt since 1976.

A Long March 5 rocket next year is scheduled to deliver the core module of China's future space station to orbit. China has also assigned the Long March 5 to send at least two more station segments into space to assemble the human-tended research complex in orbit, and a Long March 5 will launch China's first Mars rover in mid-2020.

posted 04-16-2018 08:56 AM               

The State Administration for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND), which oversees China's space activities, released a report April 16 attributing the failure to a turbopump on one of two liquid-oxygen and kerosene YF-77 engines powering the rocket's first stage.

The turbopump's exhaust structure, according to SASTIND, failed while under "complex thermal conditions."

Redesigned YF-77 engines have already been through hot fire testing at a site in a ravine near Xi'an in north China. The tests have verified the effectiveness of the measures taken, according to the report.

The return to flight is to take place late in the year, with previous space industry statements pointing to November.

posted 03-16-2020 12:09 PM               

Liftoff from the coastal Wenchang Satellite Launch Center occurred at 10:34 a.m. Eastern. Launch was initially confirmed by images and footage shared online by distant spectators.

The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp., (CASC), which developed and manufactured the rocket, typically announces launches following declaration of mission success. Similar mission profiles are usually announced to be successful around an hour after launch, but no announcement was made.

State news agency confirmed failure just under two hours after launch, with no cause nor nature of the failure stated. An investigation into the anomaly will follow.

posted 05-05-2020 09:46 AM               

The white large rocket blasted off from the Wenchang Space Launch Center on the coast of southern China's island province of Hainan at 6 p.m. (Beijing Time), according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

About 488 seconds later, the experimental manned spacecraft with no crew, together with the test version of the cargo return capsule, separated with the rocket and entered the planned orbit.

The successful flight inaugurates the "third step" of China's manned space program, which is to construct a space station, said CMSA.

Specially developed for China's manned space program, Long March-5B will be mainly used to launch the modules of the space station.

Some additional details about the Long March 5B, via Xinhua:

• 53.7 meters long, with a 5-meter-diameter core stage and four 3.35-meter-diameter boosters

• uses liquid hydrogen, liquid oxygen and kerosene. Launch mass of about 849 tonnes and a liftoff thrust of about 1,078 tonnes

• Compared with the Long March 5, the Long March 5B has one less core stage but a larger fairing, which is 20.5 meters long and 5.2 meters in diameter

posted 05-06-2020 09:39 AM               

A flexible and inflatable cargo return capsule that China sent into space for test for the first time operated abnormally during its return to the ground on Wednesday, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

posted 03-12-2021 08:21 AM               

The rocket blasted off at 1:51 a.m. (Beijing Time) from the launch site, sending an experimental satellite into the planned orbit. The satellite will be mainly used for in-orbit tests of new technologies including space environment monitoring.

This was the 362nd flight mission of the Long March rocket series.

A modified version of the Long March-7 rocket, the launch vehicle represents the new generation of China's medium-sized high-orbit rocket. It has three stages and a total length of 60.1 meters, seven meters longer than the Long March-7, giving it a slim and tall appearance.