China's first solid-fuel rocket to debut before 2016

BEIJING - China's first solid-fuel rocket Long March-11 is expected to make its first launch before 2016, a senior official of the rocket's designing institute said on Saturday.

Liang Xiaohong, deputy head of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, said the rocket will be easy to operate and cost-efficient to launch. It can remain in storage for long period and reliably launch on short notice.

"The development of the Long March-11 will greatly improve China's capabilities to rapidly enter the space and meet the emergency launching demand in case of disasters and emergencies," he told Xinhua.

The Long March-11 rocket system consists of a solid-fuel rocket and a launching support system. It will apply China's largest solid-fuel rocket engine, he said.

China has made more than 160 launching of liquid-fuel rockets successfully but is yet to make breakthrough on the development of the solid-fuel rockets.