China has postponed the planned launch of its Chang’e-7 Moon mission, days after saying the launch site and equipment were in good condition.
The probe and the Long March 5 rocket assigned to carry it had already been transferred to the takeoff area at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in southern Hainan province last week. Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported the announcement.
As of Wednesday, inspections were still due to be carried out and the agency said the launch was “scheduled for the coming period”. On Sunday, China’s manned space agency said a “comprehensive assessment” had found that the mission “does not meet launch conditions and cannot take place during the planned window this year”. The agency said the postponement was “based on the principle of prudence, reliability and absolute mission success”. State news agency Xinhua said the failed mission used a Long March 7A carrier rocket that had taken off from the Wenchang Space Launch Site. The rocket was carrying the Zhongxing-4B communications satellite when an “anomaly” occurred during flight. Xinhua said the cause of the failure remained under investigation. President Xi Jinping has described the country’s ambitions in space as its “space dream”.
It did not identify which conditions had not been met or say when the mission could be rescheduled. It provided no further details behind the decision. The two developments come as Beijing continues to expand its space programme, into which it has invested billions of dollars in recent years.
China also successfully landed a reusable rocket for the first time in July, according to its space agency. The milestone represented an advance in China’s space programme, including its efforts to reduce launch costs.