China plans mega rocket for manned lunar missions

[kevindavis007]

China is planning to start using a huge carrier rocket powerful enough for manned lunar missions before 2031. The new rocket will measure over a hundred meters in length and nearly 10 meters in diameter under the current design, according to a statement issued on Friday by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technologies (CALT), developer of the country's Long March rocket series,


It will have a maximum payload capacity more than five times as high as the current Long March series rockets, the CALT said, without offering specific figures.


At present, the Chinese rocket capable of carrying most weight is the Long March-5, which is scheduled to debut in the latter half of this year. It is expected that the large thrust rocket, with a diameter of five meters, will boast a payload capacity of 25 tonnes to low Earth orbit (LEO), or 14 tonnes to geostationary transfer orbit.


Able to carry more weight, China's new rocket could be used in deep space missions such as manned lunar exploration, retrieval of Martian samples as well as probes to other planets in the solar system, according to the statement. The announcement came with China planning a maiden flight for its Long March-7 carrier rocket in a five-day launch window between Saturday and Wednesday.


Read More: http://www.interstellar-news.net/2016/06/china-plans-mega-rocket-for-manned.html

[kevindavis007]

Not good..

[geronl]

This is why we need private companies to pick up the slack

[Just_Victor]

Not good..

I wouldn't be so hasty.  If we let competition inspire us to succeed, then it's very good.  And our heavy lift vehicle is still years ahead of the Chinese vehicle, we're building ours, they're still planning theirs.