The Long March 5 Y3 rocket had a successful launch at Hainan island.
Source: Spaceflight Now
The third launch of China’s heavy-lift Long March 5 rocket successfully delivered its satellite payload to orbit Friday, validating engine design changes after a failure on the Long March 5’s second flight, and clearing the way for the launch of a Chinese Mars rover and lunar sample return mission in 2020.
The 187-foot-tall (57-meter) rocket, the most powerful in China’s fleet, lifted off from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Hainan Island in southern China at 1245 GMT (7:45 a.m. EST; 8:45 p.m. Beijing time) Friday.
When closer to Equator line are the launches, better. Because Earth’s rotational speed is higher than in other regions, reaching 1669 km/h (1037.069 mph). A rocket launched in Equator gains an adicional impulse, therefor saves fuel.
Ten engines powered the Long March 5 into the sky with nearly 2.4 million pounds of thrust, carrying an experimental communications satellite named Shijian 20 into space.
The launch Friday marked the first flight of a Long March 5 rocket since the launcher’s second mission in July 2017 ended in failure, prompting a two-and-a-half-year grounding and redesign effort.
The Long March 5 is the heaviest rocket in China’s fleet, and one of the most powerful launcher’s in the world. The Long March 5 can deliver up to 14 metric tons — nearly 31,000 pounds — to geostationary transfer orbit, a popular target orbit for large communications satellites.
Satellites in geostationary orbit have the same rotation period as Earth. In relation to an observer in Earth, satellite is always in the same position. many communication satellites are in this orbit to transmit and relay signals to the same region.
This is launch’s video.
