China News Service:
On June 25 and on Nov.3 this year,the medium-sized Long March 7 and the large-sized Long March 5 rockets, two of China's new-generation carrier rockets, successively lifted off from Wenchang, Hainan Province. Could you give us a brief introduction of the operation of these two types? Thank you.
Yang Baohua:
As you say, the Long March 7 and the Long March 5 rockets, two of China's new-generation carrier rockets,were successfully launched from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan Province. These have greatly enhanced China's ability to conduct space mission, and is of great significance for the rapid development of the national space industry. The development of the Long March 7 rocket is to meet the need of launching cargo spaceships for the space station program. We also take into account the need of the country's future technological development and carrier rocket upgrades. The plan for developing the Long March7 rocket started in January 2011, and the rocket made its successful launch debut from Wenchang on June 25 this year.
As the basic type of our new-generation carrier rockets, the Long March 7 rocket has a carrying capacity of 13.5 tons in low-Earth orbit and 5.5 tons in Sun-synchronous orbit. As scheduled, the second Long March 7 rocket will send China's first cargo ship, Tianzhou1, into orbit in the first half of next year. In the follow-up missions of space station construction and operation, the Long March 7 rocket and its payload will form a cargo transportation system providing propellant fuel and other supplies for the space station. With the improvement of technical schemes and performance stability, the Long March 7 rocket can gradually become the main carrier for China's future satellites and spacecraft.
On Nov 3, the Long March 5, a new-generation heavy-lift carrier rocket, was launched for the first time in Wenchang, marking China's entry into the era of large rockets. This type is currently the country's largest space transportation system in terms of development scale and technological span. It uses non-toxic and non-polluting propellant fuel, with a take-off thrust exceeding 1,000 tons, and has a carrying capacity of 25 tons in low-Earth orbit and 14 tons in geosynchronous orbit, equal to the capacity of international mainstream carrier rockets. Based on the Long March 5 rocket, another new type, the Long March 5B rocket, has been developed to undertake the space station's accommodation pod launch. This approach will further improve the safety and reliability of rockets and meet mission needs.
In short, the successful debut of the Long March 7 and the Long March 5 rockets have not only greatly enhanced China's ability in developing carrier rocket technology, but also further improved our space station's transportation support system, thus laying a solid foundation for the construction and operation of the space station. Thank you.