China is continuing its space rocket programme with a test of the third stage of its three-stage Long March rocket at a base in the south of the country, state media has reported.
The rocket, which is intended to be used to put smaller satellites into orbit, was launched on Monday night from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in Gansu province, the China Daily reported. The test flight is likely to worry US and other countries that have developed ballistic missile capabilities and become wary of technology Beijing is trying to acquire.
“It’s a critical test as it will determine when we can produce a stage for the Long March 5,” Zhao Gancheng, of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre, told the newspaper.
Previous launches of the rocket have raised concerns about Chinese efforts to develop space weapons. Unusual characteristics of a Chinese satellite in April this year suggested the country was seeking to build a large space-based weapon system.
The Long March 2F rocket carried the initial stages of the Chang’e-4 lunar probe, which is scheduled to land on the moon in late 2013. China’s most sophisticated rocket, the Long March 5 rocket, has yet to fly.
