Successful Long March 5 launch paves way for new Chinese space missions

The third launch of China’s heavy-lift Long March 5 rocket successfully delivered its satellite payload to orbit Friday, validating engine design changes after a failure on the Long March 5’s second flight, and clearing the way for the launch of a Chinese Mars rover and lunar sample return mission in 2020. The 187-foot-tall (57-meter) rocket, the most powerful in China’s fleet, lifted off from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Hainan Island in southern China at 1245 GMT (7:45 a.m. EST; 8:45 p.m. Beijing time) Friday. More

(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 29)