China calls new space rocket engine a success

BEIJING, July 10 (Reuters) China has successfully tested a new rocket engine to power the country's ambitious programme of manned space flights and moon landings, the official Xinhua news agency reported today.

Tests of the liquid hydrogen- and kerosene-fuelled engine were a ''complete success'', a spokesperson from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation told Xinhua.

With maximum propulsion of 120 tonnes, the new engine is three times more powerful than those currently used by China's Long March rockets.

The engine will propel a new-generation rocket able to sling heavy satellites and moon exploration equipment into orbit, experts told Xinhua. The report did not say when the new rocket engine would go into service.

In 2003, China became only the third country -- after the United States and Soviet Union -- to launch a man into space aboard its own rocket. In October, it sent two men into orbit, and another manned orbit is slated for 2007.

A top official in China's space programme said last month that China plans its first moonwalk for 2024, cementing its position as a new space power.

The mission would kick off in earnest next year, when China launches an unmanned lunar satellite in March or April to orbit and survey the lunar surface, a mainland-backed Hong Kong newspaper reported.

REUTERS KD KN1805