China is expected to launch its next generation of heavy-duty rockets in 2028 powerful enough to send a crewed spacecraft to the moon, the country’s main space contractor.
The new heavy-lift launch vehicle would be capable of putting a 15- to 50-tonne spacecraft on a trajectory to the moon, said Liu Bing, deputy designer at the China Aerospace Science and Technology.
It would also be powerful enough to place a probe weighing 12 to 44 tonnes on a trajectory to Mars, Liu told reporters at a major airshow in the southern city of Zhuhai, without naming the rocket.
China previously predicted it would complete the design and construction of a rocket with enough thrust to transport its astronauts to the moon only by 2030.
China still lags behind the United States in experience and technology. The last NASA crewed landing was in 1972 and U.S. astronauts are expected to return to the moon by 2024.
China has been developing the super-heavy Long March 9 rocket with a liftoff weight of 4,140 tonnes and a thrust of 5,760 tonnes, state media reported in May.
Source: www.nbcnews.com
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