In an effort to catch up with America and Russia ... China launches a spacecraft aboard its largest carrier missile

China has sent a new spacecraft into space, in a move described as a mission to build a major Chinese space station soon, similar to the International Space Station, and to send manned flights to the moon.

The Long March 5B missile, which also made its first flight, was launched on Tuesday from the Wenchang site to launch missiles on the island of Hainan in southern China, while an unmanned spacecraft model was separated from it before entering the specified orbit, according to the New China News Agency. Official.

As a precaution, no one got on the spacecraft because of the experimental nature of the operation, one of its main goals in the medium term is to transport astronauts to the future space station and make manned flights to the moon.

"This flight is an important step," said Chen Lan, an independent analyst with the China Space Program's Gotaikonuts.com website.

"This new vehicle will give China an edge over Japan and Europe in the field of manned space flight," he added.

This new vehicle is known to be safer, faster, and more heat-resistant, longer (8.8 meters) and heavier (21.6 tons). The spacecraft will also be able to transport more astronauts (six instead of three), and it can be partially reused.

"Everything depends on the ambitions of the Chinese space program, but missions beyond the moon will be possible," said Carter Palmer, a specialist in space affairs for the US office, "Forcast International".

Also new on Tuesday’s mission is the Long March 5B missile, which has a diameter of 5 meters and weighs 849 tons, and is 54 meters long. It can carry a payload of 22 tons to space.

This missile will be used to launch various sections of the space station in the future.

China aims to complete a multi-manned space station by 2022. In 2003, it became the third country to send a man into space aboard a missile of its own making, after the former Soviet Union and the United States.

The future space station of China, which is called "the heavenly palace", includes three parts: a basic unit about 17 meters long (the place of existence and work), and two attached units (for scientific experiments).

Their collection in space is supposed to start this year and end in 2022.

China has since raced to catch up with Russia and the United States to become a major space power by 2030.