Five Things to Know About China’s Long March 5 (CZ-5) Rocket
Andrew Jones 2016/10/31
China will this week launch its first Long March 5 (CZ-5), which will rank among the most powerful active rockets in the world and fulfil specific needs for the country’s space programme. Here are five things to know about China’s breakthrough:
1. China's most powerful rocket
The 860-tonne, 5-metre diameter, 53-m tall Long March 5 is a heavy-lift launch vehicle capable of lifting a 25 tonne payload to low Earth orbit.
The rocket has been designed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) to meet the requirements for China’s growing space ambitions, including...
2. Chinese Space Station
The Long March 5 will allow the country to complete the final stage of a long-term human spaceflight project set out in 1992 – a large, permanently crewed space station.
China first put an astronaut in space in 2003, followed by five more crewed missions and two experimental space labs, the second of which,
Tiangong-2, is currently hosting the
two Shenzhou-11 astronauts.
All of this is a precursor for a three-module, 60-tonne
Chinese Space Station (CSS). The Long March 5B variant will be used to launch these components, starting with the
Tianhe-1 core module in 2018.
3. To the Moon and Mars
The Long March 5 will also allow China to pursue deep space and interplanetary missions. Next year it will launch the
Chang’e-5 probe next year to collect and return samples from the Moon, in the final stage of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Programme (CLEP), and marking the first such attempt by any nation since the 1970s.
In 2020, China will launch its first independent interplanetary mission
to Mars. Ambitiously, the project involves sending an orbiter, lander and rover to the Red Planet in one go.
As underlined by the recent experience of ESA and Russia with the ExoMars
Schiaparelli lander, this will be no mean feat, but China now has the capabilities to
attempt such missions.
The launch vehicle will also boost capabilities for launching large satellites high to geosynchronous orbit. This will be tested in this week’s debut with the launch of the technology experiment Shijian-17 satellite, while also proving applicable practice for the Chang’e-5 mission.
4. New spaceport and ships
Developing a rocket of the size and capability of the Long March 5 has also meant new infrastructure and logistics. While China’s established Long March 2, 3, and 4 can transported by train to the three inland launch sites at Jiuquan and Taiyuan in the north and Xichang in the southwest, the five-metre diameter core of the Long March 5 - which brought engineering and manufacturing challenges - makes it too wide for tunnels.
So a new coastal launch centre was required and established on the southern island province of Hainan. Being closer to the equator, the Wenchang launch site also gives rockets a boost from the greater rotational speed of the Earth.
Two specially designed ships, Yuanwang 21 and 22, deliver components for the Long March 5 and 7 from Tianjin to Hainan.
Combined with the Long March 5’s role in the CSS, all of this underlines the impressive
long-term planning and careful execution of
China’s space programme.
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5. Next generation rocket
The Long March 5 is part of a new series of rockets that will take China's space programme to new heights, with their modular design and manufacturing bringing benefits in terms of cost, preparation time and reliability.
The engines of the new cryogenic Long March 5,
6 and
7 rockets use refined RP-1 kerosene fuel with liquid oxygen oxidiser. This cryogenic propellant is cheaper, provides more thrust and produces far less dangerous or polluting by-products compared to the highly toxic and unstable hypergolic hydrazine fuel mix used by China’s current launch vehicles.
It could also potentially allow the engines to be made reusable in the future, something the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation - the main space programme contractor - is working on.
The liquid oxygen is cooled in the Long March 5 tanks to -183 degrees Celsius, according to Wang Xiaojun of CALT, before burning the propellant at around 3,000 degrees.
The debut launch of Long March 5 is expected to be broadcast live by Chinese state media and streamed online. Though not yet announced,
liftoff is expected around November 3.
Read more at http://gbtimes.com/china/five-things-know-about-chinas-long-march-5-rocket