07 July 2017
China has a clear plan to provide sea launches for commercial payloads to be carried by Long March rockets, according to aerospace official Tang Yagang. Tang is vice head of the aerospace division of the No.1 institute of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASTC). He said that the technology is not difficult and a sea launch platform can be built based on modifying 10,000-tonne freighters. China will use solid carrier rockets which rely less on launch facilities and feature mature technology, Tang said, adding that key technology for the carrier rockets will be tested at sea this year and the service is expected to be available for international users in 2018.
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