China has completed production on a major part of its next-generation Long March 5 jumbo rocket and expects to launch the large-thrust carrier before 2015, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported Sept. 10.
The Long March 5 will have a maximum payload capacity of 25 metric tons to low Earth orbit — 2.5 times that of current Long March rockets, the report said.
The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp., which designs and builds Long March rockets as well as Shenzhou manned spacecraft, says production of the Long March 5 will be housed in the new $938 million Tianjin Aerospace Industry Base in northern China.
READ IT AT: [Xinhua]
