23 December 2022
China is also developing a next-generation manned launch vehicle that will meet the long-term strategic need for manned lunar exploration. It will be a 3 1/2 stage launcher. It will be capable of sending payloads of 25 t directly into LTO, or payloads of 70 t into near-Earth orbit, and it's expected to make a maiden flight by 2027. A new model of super heavy-lift carrier rocket - the Long March-9 - is also under development. It will be a 10-m-diameter, 3-stage mega rocket with a height of 110 m, capable of sending payloads of 150 t into LEO, 50 t into LTO and 35 t to the Mars transfer trajectory. The first flight of the Long March-9 vehicle could be expected around 2030.
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