On Monday, China successfully completed the second ground test of a power system for its next-generation carrier rocket. The rocket will boost its capability to enter space by at least 2.5 times during missions in 2016.

Long March-5 was first test-fired on February 9 this year. The state-run Xinhua news agency reported that the test of the Long March-5 has completed ahead of its first flight next year.

Tan Yonghua, head of the Academy of Aerospace Propulsion Technology, said that with the help of non-toxic, non-polluting liquid propellant, the engines were test-fired on the ground to test the technology.

Xu Dazhe, head of the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, mentioned that the Long March-5 will increase China's capability to enter the space by at least 2.5 times. Thus, it will largely improve the country's carrier rocket.

“The Chang'e-5 lunar mission is undergoing intensive development and is scheduled to be launched with a Long March-5 carrier rocket from south China's Hainan Province around 2017”, said Xu.

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

China began work on carrier rockets in 1950s. Since then, the Long March rockets have become the main carriers for satellites, probes and manned spacecraft.

As per the report, the CBERS-4 satellite, jointly developed with Brazil, was launched from the Taiyuan base by the Long March-4B rocket, the 200th launch of the Long March rocket family, in December 2014. It was this launch that made China the third country after the US and Russia to complete 200 carrier rocket launches.