One of the most seriously delayed rockets in history will finally launch two weeks from now, on Hainan Island.

The Long March 5 (CZ-5) was first mooted at the turn of the millennium and was given formal approval in 2005. It was initially planned to be launched in 2008 but the expected date of debut has seemingly stayed a few years in the future, but it is now firmly scheduled to launch on 3 November 2016.

The CZ-5 is a major step up in the Long March range. The workhorse of the Chinese program has been the CZ-3 range, which has various configurations for different tasks and can deliver 8.5 tonnes to low earth orbit (LEO). There have been over 80 launches in the CZ-3 range, mainly for satellite launch, though it has played an important role in the manned program.

CZ-5 will have a LEO launch capacity of 25 tonnes. Whereas the CZ-3 range relies on N2O4/UDMH (which has various negative health and environment risks), the CZ-5 uses LH/LO2. CZ-5 will be the main craft used for building the “Chinese large modular space station”, and potentially for large deep space missions and ambitious manned missions.

The CZ-5 is broadly comparable to Russia’s Proton M, the SpaceX Falcon 9 or the Delta IV Heavy.

dv said:

One of the most seriously delayed rockets in history will finally launch two weeks from now, on Hainan Island.

The Long March 5 (CZ-5) was first mooted at the turn of the millennium and was given formal approval in 2005. It was initially planned to be launched in 2008 but the expected date of debut has seemingly stayed a few years in the future, but it is now firmly scheduled to launch on 3 November 2016.

The CZ-5 is a major step up in the Long March range. The workhorse of the Chinese program has been the CZ-3 range, which has various configurations for different tasks and can deliver 8.5 tonnes to low earth orbit (LEO). There have been over 80 launches in the CZ-3 range, mainly for satellite launch, though it has played an important role in the manned program.

CZ-5 will have a LEO launch capacity of 25 tonnes. Whereas the CZ-3 range relies on N2O4/UDMH (which has various negative health and environment risks), the CZ-5 uses LH/LO2. CZ-5 will be the main craft used for building the “Chinese large modular space station”, and potentially for large deep space missions and ambitious manned missions.

The CZ-5 is broadly comparable to Russia’s Proton M, the SpaceX Falcon 9 or the Delta IV Heavy.

Wikipedia says that the length, diameter, liftoff mass and thrust of the CZ-5 are all unknown. But it is planned to have double the payload capacity to LEO of the presently most powerful Long March rocket, the CZ-3B, pictured below.

The change from N2O4/UDMH to LH/LO2 is a very big step in the right direction, and not just for environmental reasons.

Previous Long March Rockets

> 25 tonnes … The workhorse of the Chinese program has been the CZ-3 range, which has various configurations for different tasks and can deliver 8.5 tonnes to low earth orbit (LEO).

That’s the antique version. The CZ-3B can manage 12 tonnes to LEO and the future CZ-3B(A) will increase that to 13 tonnes.

There is also a tentative plan for a Long March 9 that will potentially deliver 130 tonnes to LEO. Its first flight is expected in 2025 in preparation for a manned Chinese lunar landing in 2029. If produced, it would be classified as a Super Heavy lift launch vehicle along with the Space Launch System and Falcon Heavy currently under development in the United States.