Flying without astronauts on a demonstration flight in Earth orbit, a test model of a next-generation Chinese crew capsule lifted off Tuesday on top of a heavy-lift Long March 5B rocket, the same launcher configuration that will loft segments of China’s planned space station.
The 176-foot-tall (53.7-meter) Long March 5B rocket lit its 10 main engines and climbed into space at approximately 1000 GMT (6 a.m. EDT; 6 p.m. Beijing time) from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Hainan Island in southern China.