WENCHANG, Hainan, May 5 (Xinhua) -- China's new large carrier rocket Long March-5B made its maiden flight on Tuesday, sending the trial version of China's new-generation manned spaceship and a cargo return capsule for test into space.
The white large rocket blasted off from the Wenchang Space Launch Center on the coast of southern China's island province of Hainan at 6 p.m. (Beijing Time), according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).
About 488 seconds later, the experimental manned spacecraft with no crew, together with the test version of the cargo return capsule, separated with the rocket and entered the planned orbit.
The successful flight inaugurates the "third step" of China's manned space program, which is to construct a space station, said CMSA.
Specially developed for China's manned space program, Long March-5B will be mainly used to launch the modules of the space station.
