![Wenchang Space Launch China Hainan](https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/18/4P6M5U2T65C7FXEXJXLK243S2A.jpg?w=1280)
![Wenchang Space Launch China Hainan](https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/18/4P6M5U2T65C7FXEXJXLK243S2A.jpg?w=1280)
![China Long March 5](https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/18/5A6WTDHMYJZRT44C73VTYSQ44M.jpg?strip=all&quality=95)
While NASA’s Orion test flight dominated space news last week, CCTV reported on the next big step for China’s space program. In a Tianjin rocket factory, the first Long March/Changzheng 5 (LM-5) space rocket is undergoing final testing and assembly.
![China Long March 5 Booster](https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/18/UJHDI724MH3LQ4S73JVOD4NW5E.jpg?strip=all&quality=95)
Built by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), the rocket will be one of the world’s largest and most powerful space launch vehicles. Its largest version, the CZ-5-504, is 62 meters tall, has a total weight of 800 tons, and can carry 25 tons of payload to low-Earth orbit. China’s first LM-5 will be shipped by sea to the new space launch center in Wenchang, Hainan Island, for a 2015 launch.
The launch system is powerful enough to launch a lunar or Mars mission spacecraft weighing up to 14 tons. In addition to the three-stage, five-meter-diameter, dual-engine primary core, the LM-5 is assisted by up to four 3.35-meter-diameter, twin-engine boosters. Its total thrust at sea level is 1,080 tons, making the LM-5 comparable to foreign systems like the U.S. Delta IV Heavy and European Ariane 5.
![Tiangong 3 Long March 5 China](https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/18/VA262YQ2TEBR4F5IHDZSOM5RZ4.jpg?strip=all&quality=95)
Once the LM-5 starts flying, its most high-profile mission will be launching modules for the planned Chinese space station Tiangong (around 2020), as well as future taikonaut Shenzhou missions. The LM-5 will also be used to launch larger Chinese communications and intelligence satellites into geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO) to continuously cover a specific terrestrial location, as well as provide large-diameter optical spy satellites. Both CALT and the Tianjin city government have stated that the LM-5 can carry “large sized remote sensing satellites,” which certainly seems plausible. (The U.S. Delta IV Heavy is believed to carry the KH-11 series of imaging satellites, which may weigh about 15 tons.) Larger imaging satellites would give Chinese intelligence analysts highly accurate images of foreign warships and aircraft test sites.
![Shenlong Space Plane China](https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/18/B5X57QAQKGQHPRTBYI2OJRKK64.jpg?strip=all&quality=95)
The LM-5 will also take on foreign customers; to date, China has launched satellites for nations such as Brazil, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey. Given that the Tianjin factory is capable of building six to eight LM-5 lunch systems a year, China clearly anticipates a large civilian, military, and foreign demand for its big rocket. A parting thought: the Chinese unmanned spaceplane, Shenlong, weighs between five and 10 tons. The LM-5 could carry much larger Shenlong variants, which could be fitted with advanced sensors, as well as less friendly equipment for anti-satellite and space attack missions in wartime.
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