China Ends Preparatory Work on Long March 5 Next-Generation Rocket Engine

China has finished preparatory work on the engine system of the Long March 5 (LM-5) next-generation carrier rocket, China’s PLA (People’s Liberation Army) Daily (Jiefangjun Bao) reports.

BEIJING (Sputnik) – The newspaper said on Saturday that "various kinds of preparatory work" on the Long March 5 (Changzheng 5) engines have been fully completed.

Earlier, a representative of China’s manned space program said that the heavy lift launch system was expected to be ready for use in the second half of 2016. The first launch is planned to take place from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center.

Long March 5 (Changzheng 5, or CZ-5) is China’s largest ever rocket. It is developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC).