China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC) is planning a huge new development of its Long March booster that could put 13,000kg into geostationary transfer orbit. That's twice the lifting performance of Delta IV and Ariane 5, produced by Great Wall competitors Boeing and Arianespace.
The new Long March 5 will offer a wide range of satellite launch capabilities, based on three modular stages with diameters of 5m, 3.25m and 2.25m and powered by new 1,200kN-thrust hydrocarbon engines. The upper stages will have cryogenic liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen engines with 500kN thrust.
The heavy-lift version of the Long March 5 will combine a cryogenic first stage with hydrocarbon upper stages to create the record-breaking GTO capability.
Source: Flight Daily News
