As China's next generation of carrier rocket, the Long March-7 is readying itself in the country's southernmost island province of Hainan, waiting for the launch window predicted for later this month.
Though not obviously larger in size than its Long March siblings, the carrying capacity of the Long March-7 has increased by a large margin.
"Our rocket carrying capacity for lower orbits used to be between 8 and 9 tons; the Long March-7 now has a carrying capacity of up to 14 tons. From 8 to 14 tons, the increase is very big," says Fan Ruixiang, chief designer of Long March-7.
This new generation of carrier rocket now resorts to kerosene and low-temperature liquid oxygen as fuels which result in a 50-percent increase of thrust on a single engine within the rocket proper.
The combustion of kerosene and low-temperature oxygen is capable of providing a combined maximum 720 tons of liftoff thrust. The combustion only results in carbon dioxide and water which are environmentally friendly.
"Hainan is an island of treasure for our nation. To launch rockets from Hainan, we must be able to go green. All propellants used by Long March-7 are green and clean. They are friendly and suitable for the mission here," says Wang Xiaojun, Long March-7's commander in charge.
The launch platform takes care of the carrier rocket before its liftoff to space. The launch platform serving Long March-7 is more than just a movable. It is a combination of various networks of high-precision command and control and mechanical systems.
Three kilometers separate the assembly vault and the launch pad. Long March-7 will use most of the existing tracks for Long March-5's in its maneuver from the vault to the pad, to avoid constructing new tracks which would damage local vegetation. But the environmental considerateness has led to four 90-degree turns along its way.
"The launch platform comes out of the assembly vault. It moves along the straight track before making a turn to position. So this launch platform is capable of automatically taking the turn. The straight track has been used by Long March-5 series," says Fan Hong, deputy chief engineer of Long March-7's Ground Support System.
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