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China Aims To Build World's Largest Rocket

Posted by timothy on from the one-up-man-space-ship dept.

hackingbear writes "Back in March, China revealed it is studying the feasibility of designing the most powerful carrier rocket in history for making a manned moon landing and exploring deep space, according to Liang Xiaohong, vice head of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology. The rocket is envisaged to have a payload of 130 tonnes, five times larger than that of China's current largest rocket. This rocket, if built, will eclipse the 53 tonne capacity of the planned Falcon 9 Heavy from SpaceX. It will even surpass the largest rocket ever built, the 119-tonne Saturn V. China's next generation rocket Long March 5, currently scheduled to debut in 2014, has a payload capacity of 25 tonnes to LEO."

7 of 250 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Long Dong Rocket by roman_mir · · Score: 1, Informative

    Clearly.

    For USA's inability to get large cargo into space now, that Shuttles are done for.

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  2. Have fun readin... by denzacar · · Score: 3, Informative

    http://www.moonsociety.org/whitepapers/moonreturn_positionpaper.html

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    Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
  3. Re:Wonder what it'll look like? by RussellSHarris · · Score: 3, Informative

    How else would a rocket look like? A cube? A sphere?

    ...says the guy who thinks all rockets look alike just because of superficial similarities in their shape.

  4. Beating the Soviets by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 5, Informative

    The Soviet Union produced th biggest rocket ever, bigger than any the US ever produced (and bigger than SpaceX's new "biggest ever"). Financing its space race in competition with the US was the final stroke that killed the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, the US is devolving launches into what will be a healthy industry serving global customers, but by US rules.

    I like the way this story looks to develop. Because I'm an American who wants to beat China in a race that takes us all into space.

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    make install -not war

  5. Re:Wonder what it'll look like? by Noughmad · · Score: 4, Informative

    Why choose?
    How about a Chinese knockoff of a Soviet copy of an American design?

    You forgot that basically all rocket designs come from German engineers.

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  6. Other news: China confounded by SpaceX prices by FleaPlus · · Score: 2, Informative

    China's space program makes pronouncements like this all the time, but they don't yet have the ability to make things like this happen. Heck, just the other day personnel from China's aerospace organization said that they were confounded by SpaceX's price/kg and unable to compete with it:

    http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=space&id=news/asd/2011/04/15/11.xml&headline=China%20Great%20Wall%20Confounded%20By%20SpaceX%20Prices

    Heck, SpaceX has designs for both 125 and 140 tonne vehicles, but it doesn't mean it plans on building them before it makes economic sense.

  7. Re:Wonder what it'll look like? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Designed by their Germans or our Germans? (OK, out-of-date cold war joke, but still)