China on Friday conducted the third launch of its Long March 5 heavy-lift carrier, the first since the failed liftoff in 2017, according to China Central Television's broadcast
BEIJING (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th December, 2019) China on Friday conducted the third launch of its Long March 5 heavy-lift carrier, the first since the failed liftoff in 2017, according to China Central Television's broadcast.Long March 5 is the most powerful Chinese launch vehicle, capable of placing on the low-earth orbit up to 25 tonnes of cargo, and up to 14 tonnes on the geostationary transfer orbit.
The rocket lifted off from the Wenchang launch site in the Hainan province at 8:45 p.m. local time (12:45 GMT) carrying a Shijian-20 communication satellite aboard.
In 2017, the rocket's second launch failed due to a first-stage engine malfunction. The third launch was supposed to take place in November 2018, but was postponed to July 2019, and then to December.
If everything goes as planned, the rocket will be used to deliver the Chang'e 5 lunar exploration mission to the Moon for gathering samples of the moon's soil.
