Milestones

Long March 5B

China’s Long March 5B carrier rocket made its first flight on May 5 at the Wenchang center marking a new chapter in the country’s manned space program.

The Long March 5B is central to the nation’s space station program as it is the only Chinese launch vehicle capable of carrying large space station parts into orbit.

Beidou Satellite

On June 23, the final satellite to complete the third-generation network of the Beidou Navigation Satellite System was launched by a Long March 3B rocket at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Sichuan province.

After in-orbit tests, the satellite started formal operations in late July, marking the start of Beidou’s provision of full-scale global services.

Beidou is China’s largest space-based system and one of four global navigation networks, along with the GPS of the US, Russia’s GLONASS and the European Union’s Galileo.

Tianwen 1

In addition to the moon, China’s space authorities are looking farther into the solar system. They took the first step in the country’s interplanetary voyage during the summer.

On July 23, Tianwen 1, China’s first independent Mars mission, was launched from the Wenchang center by a Long March 5 rocket, opening the nation’s planetary exploration program.

If everything goes according to schedule, the probe will travel more than 470 million km before being captured by Mars’ gravitational field in February.

After entering Mars’ orbit, the spacecraft will circle the planet for two and a half months to examine the preset landing site before descending to release the capsule.

The Long March 8

The Long March 8, the newest carrier rocket, conducted its debut flight on Dec 22 at the Wenchang Space Launch Center.

The mission marked the 356th flight of the

Long March rocket family, the pillar of China’s space transport system.

Xiao Yun, the rocket’s project manager, said the successful maiden flight was a new achievement in China’s efforts to upgrade its mediumlift launch vehicle system, and will push forward the nation’s efforts to become a world-class space power.

Long March 4C

China launched a Long March 4C carrier rocket late on Dec 27, bringing an end to its annual space plan for 2020.

The rocket lifted off at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert, deploying the Yaogan 33 remote-sensing satellite and a small experimental satellite into a sun-synchronous orbit.

Long March 4C is mainly used to send satellites to sun-synchronous orbit.

XINHUA Visitors view a model of the Beidou Navigation Satellite System at the 20th China Beijing International High-tech Expo in Beijing, on July 31.

HUANG JINKUN / FOR CHINA DAILY An attendee looks at a Beidou Navigation Satellite model at an expo in Shenyang, in September.

LONG WEI / FOR CHINA DAILY Visitors examine a model of the landing capsule Tianwen 1 in Shanghai in September.

WANG JIANGBO / FOR CHINA DAILY Long March-4C rocket blasts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.

NATIONAL SPACE ADMINISTRATION CHINA The Long March 8 conducts its debut flight at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan in December.

SU DONG / FOR CHINA DAILY Long March 5B makes its first flight at the Wenchang Space Launch Center.