China eyes breakthroughs on heavy-lift launch vehicle technologies

The inaugural flight of China's heavy-lift launch vehicle will occur within 15 years if everything goes smoothly, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASTC) said Monday.

"We plan to make breakthroughs on key technologies within five years to pave the way for the development of heavy-lift launch vehicles," said Yang Baohua, the deputy manager of CASTC.

China's heavy-lift launch vehicle could be launched into space within 15 years, Yang said.

According to the current plans, China's heavy-lift launch vehicle will be about 100 meters long with a diameter of nearly 10 meters.

China needs a heavy-lift launch vehicle with carrying capacity of about 100 tonnes to support manned moon missions or deep-space explorations. Endi