LIVE: Long March 7 (CZ-7) maiden flight - WSLC - June 25, 2016 (12:00 UTC)

[Galactic Penguin SST]

新一代运载火箭长征七号将在6月25日19：30根据当天气象条件海南文昌航天发射中心首发。

latest news :maiden flight of CZ-7 will be around 19:30(UTC+8), on June 25,2016

Well it seems that the launch date (and especially the time) isn't nailed down with certainty so take them with a grain of salt.

In any case the state TV news channel have released some payload mate footage today so rollout should be coming soon. Now since many of the payloads aren't confirmed I need to look for clues on what they could be.... 

Well letters CMS are on the english side of the fairing.

It has the China Manned Spaceflight program marking because the baseline LM-7 version is tailored for supporting logistics of the future space station and so this flight falls into CMS' umbrella. However the things on top (including the upper stage, except for the boilerplate capsule) aren't really linked to the program. 

[Phillip Clark]

I have seen the next generation manned spacecraft (NGMS) being flown on the maiden CZ-7 mission described as a "boilerplate".   For that description I automatically think of the boilerplate Apollos carried on the later Saturn-1 missions which were not functioning spacecraft.   On the other hand the NGMS will be recovered, so that indicates a reasonable amount of functionality of the vehicle.   Under these circumstances, is it accurate to refer to the CZ-7 payload as a boilerplate?

[Galactic Penguin SST]

I have just seen unconfirmed reports that the rocket will roll out to the pad tomorrow. 

[Galactic Penguin SST]

I have seen the next generation manned spacecraft (NGMS) being flown on the maiden CZ-7 mission described as a "boilerplate".   For that description I automatically think of the boilerplate Apollos carried on the later Saturn-1 missions which were not functioning spacecraft.   On the other hand the NGMS will be recovered, so that indicates a reasonable amount of functionality of the vehicle.   Under these circumstances, is it accurate to refer to the CZ-7 payload as a boilerplate?

Yes, I think I should use "prototype capsule" instead if it can really come back to Earth (as with everything Chinese, this isn't really certain), or else I should call the COTS-1 Dragon a boilerplate too. 

[Galactic Penguin SST]

I have just seen unconfirmed reports that the rocket will roll out to the pad tomorrow. 

...and apparently this has been delayed by one day due to heavy rain. 

[Galactic Penguin SST]

It's rolling! 

(photos from the Weibo account of CCTV's news channel)

[Galactic Penguin SST]

Oh and an official launch period of 25 - 29 June has been announced.   

[Galactic Penguin SST]

....and it has now reached the pad.

[Nordren]

This may or may not be a live broadcast of the launch...

http://v.qq.com/live/p/topic/7569/preview.html

[Galactic Penguin SST]

ALERT! High-res photos inbound.... 

[chewi]

[Prober]

This this new complex considered a new "spaceport", or a brand new "launch center".


I'm sure this has much pride for the country.

[Galactic Penguin SST]

[baldusi]

This this new complex considered a new "spaceport", or a brand new "launch center".


I'm sure this has much pride for the country.

It is a huge accomplishment, and a precursor to even more impressive ones. They have gained a great GTO launch site, they have what looks like a mostly civil space base. It is also the home base of new ecologically friendly and higher performance rocket family. It also enables them to solve the drop zones problem. I know that I would be extremely proud of this center. And they probably are, with very good causes.

[edkyle99]

CZ-7 moved from the east VAB to the east launch pad.  Does this pad have an official name?  For now I'm calling it the CZ-7 or East launch complex.

 - Ed Kyle

[Galactic Penguin SST]

CZ-7 moved from the east VAB to the east launch pad.  Does this pad have an official name?  For now I'm calling it the CZ-7 or East launch complex.

 - Ed Kyle

If I remember correctly the buildings of the CZ-7 pad are given numbers in the 2XX series (those for CZ-5 are numbered 1XX).  This would indicate that it would be "LC-2" although I have yet to see this name explicitly written out. 

Lemme check the Chinese sources to see if there are more clues.... 

[russianhalo117]

CZ-7 moved from the east VAB to the east launch pad.  Does this pad have an official name?  For now I'm calling it the CZ-7 or East launch complex.

 - Ed Kyle

If I remember correctly the buildings of the CZ-7 pad are given numbers in the 2XX series (those for CZ-5 are numbered 1XX).  This would indicate that it would be "LC-2" although I have yet to see this name explicitly written out. 

Lemme check the Chinese sources to see if there are more clues.... 

officially from elsewhere on NSF I find
CZ-5 Family - WSLC, LC101
CZ-6 Family - WSLC, LC??? (Given that there are visibly stub tracks and stub switches in the hires photos, I assume that CZ-6 might have its own VAB and pad LC-301 in the future unless they have launch mount adapters for the existing Mobile Launchers.)
CZ-7 Family - WSLC, LC201
All other next gen launcher plans at WSLC are currently unknown. However, given that there are visibly stub tracks and stub switches in the hires photos, I assume that the other planned next gen launcher families might have there own VAB and pad too.

[linxiaoyi]

CZ-7 moved from the east VAB to the east launch pad.  Does this pad have an official name?  For now I'm calling it the CZ-7 or East launch complex.

 - Ed Kyle

pad 201

while“pad 101” for Long march 5

[russianhalo117]

CZ-7 moved from the east VAB to the east launch pad.  Does this pad have an official name?  For now I'm calling it the CZ-7 or East launch complex.

 - Ed Kyle

pad 201

while“pad 101” for Long march 5

this info has already been posted.

[Satori]

CZ-7 moved from the east VAB to the east launch pad.  Does this pad have an official name?  For now I'm calling it the CZ-7 or East launch complex.

 - Ed Kyle

pad 201

while“pad 101” for Long march 5

this info has already been posted.

Yes, many months ago...