New-generation rockets needed for space success

China should develop a new-generation heavy-lift launch system that is even more powerful than the Long March 5, which is under development and will send the nation's manned space station in to orbit, industry insiders have urged.

"It is a must for us to develop a more powerful heavy-lift rocket if we want to reach and explore deep space," Zhang Zhi, a senior rocket researcher at the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, told China Daily on Wednesday as he attended the ongoing 10th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, Guangdong province.

Zhang's academy is the leading space launch vehicle manufacturer in China, producing all of the nation's strategic missiles and the Long March rocket family.