China reveals new space exploration roadmap

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The Long March 8 rocket will be put into official operation by 2020, announced the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), which released the latest national space exploration roadmap on Friday.

The new schedule sets out a string of ambitious targets that offer a glimpse of what China plans to accomplish in space by 2045.

The development of the Long March 8 rocket will be finished and put into official operation by 2020, said the CASC. /China News Photo

According to the roadmap, China will improve its comprehensive launch capabilities and start to provide multiple commercial launch services by 2020. The Long March is expected to complete its first test flight in 2019.

China aims to develop its own reusable space plane by 2025, and make all of its space vehicles reusable by 2035, said the CASC.

Those vehicles could be used to develop the suborbital space tourism industry, which has been eyed by many foreign high-tech companies such as Space X and Blue Origin for quite a long time. Previously, the debut flight of China’s reusable space plane had been set for 2020.

China aims to launch the Long March 9 by 2030. /Xinhua Photo

If everything goes as plan, the Long March 9, China’s first super-heavy-lift rocket, will make its maiden flight by 2030. Capable of carrying over 100 tonnes, the Long March is tasked to be used for launching crewed missions to the Moon as well as likely unmanned missions to Mars.

By 2040, the new generation of rockets and launch vehicles, such as a nuclear-powered space shuttle, will be put into operation for interstellar missions.

Long March 7. /Xinhua Photo

According to the roadmap, China plans to better exploit space resources. At the same time, some megaprojects will be also constructed with the introduction of new aerospace vehicles, such as asteroid mining and space-based solar power stations, said the CASC.

China expects to bring about a thorough revolution of transportation in space by 2045 and become a world leader in space exploration.