Long March 5 returns to flight
Posted: Tue, Dec 31, 2019, 1:43 PM ET (1843 GMT)
China's Long March 5 returned to flight early Dec. 27. The rocket lifted off from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center at 7:45 am EST (1245 GMT), deploying the Shijian-20 experimental communications satellite into orbit 40 minutes later. The launch was the first for the heavy-lift rocket since a July 2017 launch failure. The rocket is a critical element of China's future space plans, with launches scheduled in mid-2020 of a Mars orbiter and lander, followed in late 2020 by a lunar sample return mission. A variant of the Long March 5 needed for launching space station modules will also be tested next year.
China's Long March 5 returned to flight early Dec. 27. The rocket lifted off from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center at 7:45 am EST (1245 GMT), deploying the Shijian-20 experimental communications satellite into orbit 40 minutes later. The launch was the first for the heavy-lift rocket since a July 2017 launch failure. The rocket is a critical element of China's future space plans, with launches scheduled in mid-2020 of a Mars orbiter and lander, followed in late 2020 by a lunar sample return mission. A variant of the Long March 5 needed for launching space station modules will also be tested next year.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Friday, May 29
Space Force's Newest Ad Asks What's Ahead for Humanity
Military.com — 6:21 am ET (1021 GMT) What’s a Space Weapon? The Answer Can Be Complicated.
Air Force Magazine — 6:20 am ET (1020 GMT) No stopping Rocket Lab in new alert level
Gisbourne (NZ) Herald — 6:19 am ET (1019 GMT) Why a SpaceX rocket launch of astronauts can't wait out bad weather
Business Insider — 6:16 am ET (1016 GMT) Weather is less than ideal for Saturday's SpaceX launch
CNN — 6:16 am ET (1016 GMT) |
