Long March-5B a successful comeback after two failed space launch missions: China's Manned Space Agency

Global Times

Source:Global Times Published: 2020/5/5 21:33:40

Tuesday's successful debut flight of the Long March-5B, which came after the previous consecutive launch failures in March and April, declares a huge comeback for China's space program, pumping confidence into the country's future space missions, according to Ji Qiming, an official with China's Manned Space Agency (CMSA) on Tuesday.

Ji made the remarks during a special CMSA press conference after the successful maiden flight of the Long March-5B.

China's space program has experienced two consecutive launch failures on March 16 and April 9, which demonstrates the high-risk nature of space development, according to the official.

China's space sector has recently encountered rarely-seen setbacks twice within a month–firstly, the maiden flight of the newly developed variant of the Long March-7 carrier rocket, known as the Long March-7A on March 16 and the launch of the veteran Long March-3B carrying an Indonesian commercial satellite on April 9.

The location and cause of the malfunctions have been basically found out, Ji said.

Relevant departments have run an overall quality check and review in the space system, and made proper adjustment of the timetable for missions that were originally scheduled in the coming dates.

Media had previously reported that the Long March-5B maiden flight was scheduled by the end of April.