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Smaller rocket in launch success
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China launched a new, smaller type of rocket from its “Long March” family yesterday which will be primarily used for carrying satellites, as the country races ahead with an ambitious space program.
The Long March-6, a newly developed carrier rocket which uses liquid propellant, took off from a launch base in the northern province of Shanxi yesterday morning carrying 20 “micro” satellites, Xinhua news agency reported.
The white rocket, imprinted with the Chinese flag at the top, climbed into bluish-grey skies, footage aired by China Central Television showed.
The smaller rocket could make China more competitive in the lucrative market for commercial satellite launches.
“We believe it will greatly boost the competitiveness of Chinese carrier rockets in the international market,” Zhang Weidong, chief designer at the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, told Xinhua.
“The new model will also significantly improve our ability to access space,” he said.
China launches its own satellites as it continues to build a homegrown navigation system, but also carries out launches for other countries and commercial companies.
The rocket is 29.3 meters tall, shorter than others in use in China’s space program, according to reports.
The new rocket, fueled by liquid propellant made of liquid oxygen and kerosene, is China’s first carrier rocket that uses fuel free of toxicity and pollution, said Gao Xinhui, an official at China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
“Using such propellant can cut costs by a great margin,” he told Xinhua.
The launch also marked a record for the number of satellites carried by a Chinese rocket.
The small satellites will be used for “experiments” in technology and new products, CCTV said, but gave no details.
“The separation control for 20 satellites required high accuracy, precision and reliability,” Hao Yaofeng, a technician at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, told CCTV.
A 2011 policy paper issued by the State Council said that the Long March-6 would be capable of placing a ton of payload into orbit at a height of 700 kilometers.
Chinese scientists confirmed earlier this month that the country is planning to land a lunar probe on the dark side of the moon before 2020.
In 2013, China landed a rover dubbed Yutu on the moon, making it only the third nation after the US and that Soviet Union to land on the lunar surface.
China completed its first return mission to the moon last year with an unmanned probe landing successfully back on Earth.
Yesterday’s launch marked the 210th mission by the Long March family. In 1970, a Long March-1 rocket sent China’s first satellite, Dong Fang Hong 1, or “the East is Red,” into orbit.
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