China tests new carrier rocket's power system

BEIJING -- Chinese scientists have completed a ground test on the power system of the country's next-generation carrier rocket which may fly as early as next year.

Scientists test-fired the engines of Long March-5, which uses non-toxic and no-polluting liquefied propellant, on a ground facility to test "coordination and reliability" of the power system, the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND) said on Monday.

The Long March-5 rockets, designed for the final chapter of China's three-step -- orbiting, landing and finally returning -- lunar program, and for the launches of future space stations, will have a payload capacity of 25 tonnes to low Earth orbits, or 14 tonnes to geostationary transfer orbit.

A test flight for Long March-5 has been scheduled in 2016 from China's Hainan province, the SASTIND said.