POSSIBLE TEST LAUNCH OF CHINA’S LONG MARCH 5B, May 5, 2020, Hainan Island, China

China space expert Andrew Jones, writing in Space News, anticipates that China will launch its Long March 5B rocket from Hainan Island on May 5, 2020 as a test flight of a spacecraft that could be used for crews on exploration missions in the future.  The test is also related to China’s plans to launch a multi-module space station over the next two years.

Jones describes it an analogous to the Exploration Flight Test (EFT-1) of the Orion spacecraft in 2014 where Orion flew to a high altitude and returned to Earth in a reentry similar to returning from the Moon in order to test the heat shield.

China has not announced the test flight.

We will update this entry when more information is available.