China Launches Long March Rocket as Space Race Heats Up
- Rocket enters orbit after blasting off from Hainan on Friday
- Missions will include sending rover, spacecraft to Moon, Mars
This article is for subscribers only.
China launched a Long March 5 rocket from the island province of Hainan on Friday, a key step in its ambitions to reach Mars and cement its place as a major power in space exploration.
The country’s largest carrier rocket, with a diameter of 5 meters (16 feet), blasted off from Wenchang Satellite Launch Center at 8:45 p.m. local time and entered orbit about 15 minutes later, according to a live broadcast from CCTV. The unmanned rocket was carrying a communications satellite named Shijian 20 that was deployed into orbit.