“Long March IV, the augmented carrier rocket in developing, has a potenTial to launch moon vehicle, major satellite, and space station in 2014,” said Liang Xiaohong, secretary of Party Committee, deputy president, and senior engineer of China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology.Liang Xiaohong, a national congress delegate, said that China presented the argument of augmented carrier rocket as early as 1986, but the Central Government approved to develop it as one of 16 special sci-tech projects in 2007.

He said that Tianjin-based rocket industrialized manufacture base is designed to produce 12 augmented carrier rockets annually in order to meet the demand of international and domestic satellite launch market in the coming days.

He said that as the new-type augmented carrier rocket is 5m in core diameter, hard to be transported to Xichang, Jiuquan or Taiyuan satellite center vie railways or highways, it will be sent to Wenchang satellite launch center in Hainan via special transport ship.

Liang Xiaohong noted that the satellite launch center in Hainan would be put into effect in 2014. At present, the rocket development team is making efforts to develop rocket and perform the trial launch on schedule and will come into the stage of first sample in the second half of 2008. The Long March V carrier rocket chooses liquid oxygen coal oil and hydroxide as its fuel for the purpose of non-toxicity and free of pollution. At present, the self-developed 1,000,000-ton liquid oxygen coal oil engine and 500,000-ton hydroxide engine passed the trial operation smoothly.