International Business Times:
China has launched its first Long March 6 rocket into orbit with 20 small satellites, making it the third country to use a mulit-payload technology, South China Morning Post reported Monday. The successful launch was expected to put China in a better bargaining position with the United States as China prepares to test larger boosters in the next few months.
“The launch will send a message to the US that the PLA now is capable of breaking its ballistic missile defense system in Asia, because … the multi-payload technology can also be used on the DF-41 [long-range nuclear missile],” military policy analyst He Qisong of Shanghai University of Political Science and Law told the newspaper.
The DF-41 is considered China’s most powerful weapon, and can carry up to 10 warheads. The new technology used in the Long March 6 is expected to strengthen the weapon, potentially allowing it to carry some 20 warheads and aim at various targets.
The Long March 6 is a liquid propellant carrier rocket, developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology. It was designed as a light capacity vehicle, meant to complement the heavier Long March 5 rocket…
