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China is working on a super-powerful rocket that would be able to carry heavier payloads in low orbit than NASA, said Monday a Chinese space expert.
By 2030, the Long-9 rocket under development will be able to carry 140 tons in low Earth orbit – where television and Earth observation satellites are currently flying -, said Long Lehao, top Chinese Academy of Engineering official, This is to be compared to the 20 tons deliverable by the Ariane 5 rocket in Europe or the 64 tons by Elon Musk's Falcon Heavy, which catapulted in February the ## 147 ########################################################################### 39, a red Tesla Roadster from the American contractor to Mars. 19659005] It would also exceed 130 tons of NASA's space launch system, which is expected to be operational by 2020.
China's Ninth Edition would have a basic 10-meter diameter stage and four powerful boosters, each with a diameter of five meters.
Long quoted by Xinhua saying that the rocket could be used in manned lunar landings, deep space exploration or the construction of a solar-based space-based power plant.
In addition, China is working on a reusable space rocket, which is expected to make its first flight in 2021. The first leg and boosters will be recovered after a vertical landing, Long said in a speech in Beijing.
China is pouring billions into its space program army, with the hope of having a crewed space station by 2022, and sending humans to the moon in a near future.
The Asian superpower seeks to catch up with the United States and Russia after years of late pairing China also plans to build a base on the moon, the Global Times announced in early March, citing the party leader Communist of the Chinese Academy of Space Technology.
Learn more:
The dream of space in China: a long march to the moon
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