China’s Long March-6 Carrier Rocket Succeeds in First Trip

It will be the first drill carried out in a launch site that involves both the carrier rocket and a probe, said the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense.

China’s Long March 6 (CZ-6) carrier rocket is set to be launched in Taiyuan, in North China’s Shanxi Province on Saturday, sending 20 small satellites into space, media reported Thursday.

Another rocket, the Long March 11 carrier rocket (CZ-11) is expected to be launched in Jiuquan, in Northwest China’s Gansu Province on September 25, carrying three satellites.

“We believe it will greatly boost the competitiveness of Chinese carrier rockets in the global market”, Zhang Weidong, chief designer at the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, told Xinhua.

State media publicly announced plans for the Long March-6 in 2009, but said at the time the first launch was scheduled for 2013. “The new model will also significantly improve our ability to access space”, Zhang said.

The CZ-11 is the first solid launch vehicle designed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, and takes mere hours to launch in comparison to other rockets which usually take months to prepare.

The 20 satellites, including nine amateur radio satellites, were developed by a number of universities and space research institutes across China.

The small satellites would be used for “experiments” in technology and new products, CCTV said, but gave no details.

The five-year mission will culminate next year with the launch of the Long March 5 and Long March 7 rockets, capable of carrying spacecraft bound for Mars or the Moon, or heavy loads such as cargo spaceships for the space station into low Earth orbit.

China is launching its own satellites as it continues to build a home-grown navigation system, but also carries out launches for other countries and commercial companies.

In 2013, China landed a rover called Yutu on the moon, becoming the third country after the USA and erstwhile Soviet Union to do so.

The Russian space station Mir, which is now in orbit, is expected to be scrapped by 2020.