Long March 5

The fifth Long March 5 launch was slated to launch China’s first independent mission to Mars during the July–2020-08-01 launch window.

A 2017-07-01 failure of the Long March 5 rocket delayed the test flight of the Long March 5B variant intended for low Earth orbit launches and lofting space station modules.

If the Long March 5 nominal flight is successful, the Chinese Space Station core module Tianhe could be launched likely no earlier than in the second half of 2020.

A Long March 5 heavy-lift rocket is required to launch China’s Mars mission, and the Long March 5 has not flown since a failure in 2017.

A successful Long March 5 launch is required for China to meet the Mars Hohmann transfer window in 2020, and missing that launch window would delay the next opportunity by 26 months.

China’s first independent mission to Mars is expected to launch on a Long March 5 in the July–2020-08-01 Hohmann transfer window.

The third Long March 5 is expected to carry an experimental communications satellite before a fourth Long March 5 launches the Chang’e-5 lunar sample return mission.

Cargo vessels specially designed to transport components of the Long March 5 from Tianjin to the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center remain moored on the Yangtze River.

Chang’e-5 is slated for launch in late 2019 pending a successful return-to-flight of the requisite Long March 5 launcher in 2019-07-01.

The China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) will produce two Long March 5 heavy-lift rockets for 2019.

A nominal Long March 5 return-to-flight would clear the way for a test launch of the Long March 5B, a variant designed to loft 20-metric-ton Chinese Space Station modules into low Earth orbit.

The Long March 5 return-to-flight mission will carry the Shijian-20 communications satellite based on the DFH-5 satellite platform.

The Long March 5 failure in 2017-07-01 delayed the Chang’e-5 lunar sample return mission and the construction of the Chinese Space Station.

A successful Long March 5 launch would enable use of the fourth Long March 5 to launch Chang’e-5 toward the Moon in late 2019.

The third launch of the Long March 5 was scheduled to take place at Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Hainan island in 2019-07-01.

Both Chang’e-5 and the planned Mars orbiter and rover missions depend on a successful return-to-flight of the heavy-lift Long March 5 rocket, which was expected in 2019-04-01.

Chang’e-5 was delayed after a failure of the second Long March 5 in 2017-07-01.

The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) plans to launch the Chang’e-5 near-side sample return mission on the second of two planned Long March 5 heavy-lift rocket launches in 2019.