China’s largest rocket takes flight with its next-generation spacecraft

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From Ars Technica:
"On Tuesday China's Long March 5B rocket successfully launched from Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Hainan Island, which extends into the South China Sea. The rocket carried an uncrewed trial version of its next-generation spacecraft—with a mass of nearly 22 tons—successfully into orbit."

https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/05 ... pacecraft/

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From SpaceNews.com:
"Long March 5B launch clears path for Chinese space station project"

https://spacenews.com/long-march-5b-lau ... n-project/

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From SpaceFlightNow.com:
"China’s first Long March 5B rocket launches on crew capsule test flight"

https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/05/05/c ... st-flight/

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[helicon]

Thanks for the links Stephen.

[Ylem]

Thanks

I wish them the best

[Graeme1858]

Anyone else think Space X had a hand in the design?!!!

[Unitron48]

Thanks for sharing those links! Wish them well...but also hope they can become contributors to the international space community.

Dave

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Here's an update article from Space.com:
"China's next-generation space capsule aces orbital maneuvers during test flight"

https://www.space.com/china-new-space-c ... -well.html

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Another update article from SpaceNews.com:
"New Chinese spacecraft landing marks step toward future crewed lunar missions"

https://spacenews.com/new-chinese-space ... -missions/

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Another update article from SpaceFlightNow.com:
"Experimental Chinese cargo return capsule malfunctions during re-entry"

https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/05/06/e ... -re-entry/

This apparently was a secondary bit of the overall mission.

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Another update article from SpaceFlightNow.com:
"China’s next-generation crew spacecraft lands after unpiloted test flight"

https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/05/08/c ... st-flight/

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An Interesting "what if" article from Ars Technica, with a click bait title I won't repeat here:
"Long March 5B 1st stage is now the largest vehicle to make an uncontrolled reentry into Earth's atmosphere since 1991."

https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/05 ... 5-minutes/

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