China is expected to launch its next generation of heavy-duty rockets in 2028 powerful enough to send a crewed spacecraft to the moon, the country’s main space contractor said on Wednesday.
The new heavy-lift launch vehicle would be capable of putting a 15- to 50-tonne spacecraft on a trajectory to the moon, said Liu Bing, deputy designer at the China Aerospace Science and Technology.
It would also be powerful enough to place a probe weighing 12 to 44 tonnes on a trajectory to Mars, Liu told reporters at a major airshow in the southern city of Zhuhai, without naming the rocket.
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