China Launches Rocket and a Prototype Spacecraft

The state media of PRC reported that China had achieved yet another feat by successfully launching a new rocket and prototype spacecraft,  in a major test of the state’s ambitions to run a permanent space station and send their astronauts to the Moon.

According to Xinhua news agency, the rocket named Long March 5B took off from the Wenchang launch site in the southern island of Hainan and just after eight minutes an unmanned prototype spaceship successfully separated and joined its planned orbit. In addition to that Xinhua stated that a test version of a cargo return capsule also successfully separated from the rocket.

China Launches Rocket and a Prototype Spacecraft

The spacecraft will one-day carry astronauts to a space station that China intends to complete by 2022, and ultimately to the Moon. It will have the capacity for a team of six. The spaceship and capsule are programmed to return to a landing site by Friday after concluding their test flights.

The premier of the command headquarters for the flight mission Zhang Xueyu stated that the launch had “strengthened confidence and determination” for the subsequent stages of China’s space programme.

The United States of America is so far the only state to have successfully sent humans to the Moon. But China has also made huge efforts, sending astronauts into space, satellites into orbit and a rover to the far side of the Moon.

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The successful first flight of the 54-metre Long March 5B which has a takeoff weight of about 849 tonnes should encourage China, following failures of the 7A model in March and 3B model in April. Chen Lan, an independent analyst at GoTaikonauts.com, which specialises in China’s space programme added that“The new spaceship will give China an advantage in the area of human spaceflight over Japan and Europe,”.