BEIJING: The failure of China's Long March 5 rocket deals a rare setback to China's highly successful space program that could delay plans to bring back moon samples and offer rival India a chance to move ahead in the space rankings.Experts say the still unexplained mishap shows that for all its triumphs, China's space program is not immune to the tremendous difficulties and risks involved in working with such cutting-edge technology. I know how painful that is to the people who designed & built it. That's helped facilitate a program that conducted its first crewed space mission in 2003, making China only the third country after Russia and the US to do so, put a pair of space stations into orbit, and landed its Yutu, or "Jade Rabbit" rover on the moon. Though the satellite is climbing into its proper altitude on its own, the effort will reduce its useful lifespan in space. "The failure of the Long March 5 may provide a window of opportunity for India," said Johnson-Freese.

Source: Economic Times July 04, 2017 07:29 UTC