Courtesy LaunchStuff/Inside Outer Space Screengrab

China’s Long March-5 booster is being readied for its third flight at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in south China’s Hainan Province.

The carrier rocket, coded as Long March-5 Y3, is planned to be launched around the end of December, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA). A LaunchStuff twitter posting pegs the liftoff as slated for December 27th.

Courtesy LaunchStuff/Inside Outer Space

Quality assurance

In a newly posted China Central Television (CCTV) video, Wu Yanhua, deputy head of CNSA reports that engineers and scientists are convinced that all of the work — whether in terms of technology or quality assurance — have been completed. “Next, we will fill it with fuel at the launching area and run some tests,” Wu said.

Courtesy LaunchStuff/Inside Outer Space

 

 

The upcoming third Long March-5 takeoff follows a mishap of this booster-class on July 2, 2017. An intensive investigation was carried out to identify why the rocket failed less than six minutes after liftoff.

 

Critical launch

The Long March 5 booster is essential for China’s future space station, Moon and Mars exploration plans.

China’s space station scheduled to be operational in 2020’s.
Photo credit: CMSA

“If the flight is successful, it will be tasked with a series of key missions including launching China’s first Mars probe, the Chang’e-5 lunar probe and a core module for the manned space station,” Wu told CCTV. A modified version of the rocket, Long March-5B, will be used to construct China’s space station.

Go to this LaunchStuff posted video showing the booster being readied for flight at:

https://twitter.com/i/status/1208358194130669568

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