China has once again stunned the world by sending a rocket called The Long March 5 into space which is capable of carrying heavy payloads. The rocket technology would prove fruitful especially in 2018 when China would send section of future space stations in the space.
The load carrying ability of Long March 5 has put it in competition with the U.S.’s most powerful rocket. The amazing rocket is capable of taking up to 25 tonnes into a low-Earth orbit and around 14 tonnes into geostationary orbit.
Four boosters and a height of 57 m puts Long March 5 right in the Goliath category of rockets. A completely new launch centre was made just to accommodate the size of Long March 5. To transport the pieces of rockets from Tianjin to Hainan two new ships were built.
The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, a government-funded agency, said the Long March 5’s fueling could be a step toward cleaner rocket fuel trends:
“Following the design principal[sic] of generalisation, serialisation and modularization, the LM-5 uses non-toxic and non-polluting propellants such as liquid hydrogen, liquid oxygen and kerosene, etc. The modularized design can reduce launch costs and improve reliability, possessing strong adaptability and competitiveness in the market.”
The launch of long March 5 has shown tremendous progress in the space programme of China and has put the organisation way ahead than other countries. After this spectacular launch, the Chinese are hopeful to launch its first independent planetary mission by 2020.