| Title | China Plans to One Up NASA's SLS With the Long March-9 | |
| Date | Tuesday July 03 2018, @01:24AM | |
| Author | Fnord666 | |
| Topic | ||
| from the just-over-the-next-hill dept. | ||
China has big plans for its massive new rocket
Researchers are developing a rocket that would be more powerful than any U.S. spacecraft, Chinese state media reported Monday. Phys.org reports that the Long March-9 rocket, set to be complete by 2030, would be capable of delivering 140 tons into low orbit.
NASA's upcoming Space Launch System, meanwhile, aims to deliver 130 tons, and the Falcon Heavy from SpaceX launched 64 tons toward Mars earlier this year. China is reportedly hoping to surpass its American and European competitors, planning to spend billions of dollars developing its space programs.
Full reusability for the Long March-9 is not mentioned.
As a point of comparison, the Saturn V rocket:
The Saturn V was launched 13 times from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida with no loss of crew or payload. As of 2018, the Saturn V remains the tallest, heaviest, and most powerful (highest total impulse) rocket ever brought to operational status, and holds records for the heaviest payload launched and largest payload capacity to low Earth orbit (LEO) of 140,000 kg (310,000 lb), which included the third stage and unburned propellant needed to send the Apollo Command/Service Module and Lunar Module to the Moon.[5][6]
Related: China Launches Long March-6 Rocket
Chinese Long March-5 Rocket Launch Fails
China Will Open its New Space Station to International Partners
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printed from SoylentNews, China Plans to One Up NASA's SLS With the Long March-9 on 2025-12-14 01:11:47