China to launch 3 Long March rockets in five years

Beijing (CNS) – China will launch the Long March 5, Long March 6 and Long March 7 carrier rockets in the next five years, when scientific research is completed on heavy-lifting rockets, according to the 2011 China's White Paper on the Aerospace Industry released on December 29.

Long March 5 will be powered by a non-toxic and pollution-free propellant, which will has a carrying capacity of 25 tons in near-earth orbit, but the capacity will turn to 14 tons when transfer orbit. Long March 6 will be able to carry things weighing no more than a ton when it orbits 700 kilometers away from the earth's surface, but Long March 7 will be designed with a significant increase in carrying capacity - 12.5 tons compared to Long March 6.

Sixty-seven of China's Long March series carrying rockets have successfully boosted 79 spacecraft into pre-selected orbits since 2006. The Hainan launching site presently under construction is scheduled to come onstream in the next five years.