Discuss the reasons and ambitions behind the recent Chinese launch of it’s new rocket and spacecraft.
China on Tuesday successfully launched a new rocket ‘Long March 5B’ and prototype spacecraft, in a major test of the country’s ambitions to operate a permanent space station and send astronauts to the Moon.
The spaceship will one day transport astronauts to a space station that China plans to complete by 2022 — and eventually to the Moon. It will have capacity for a crew of six.
The spaceship and capsule are slated to return to a landing site after completing their test flights
The United States is so far the only country to have successfully sent humans to the Moon. But Beijing has made huge strides in its effort to catch up, sending astronauts into space, satellites into orbit and a rover to the far side of the Moon.
The new spaceship will give China an advantage in the area of human spaceflight over Japan and Europe
China plans to send an astronaut to the Moon in about a decade and then build a base there.
