China calls launch a success as robotic spacecraft heads to moon

The Long March-5 Y5 rocket, carrying the Chang'e-5 lunar probe, takes off from Wenchang Space Launch Center, in Wenchang, Hainan province, China, on Nov 24. — Tingshu Wang/Reuters

WENCHANG, China: China hailed as a success its pre-dawn launch on Nov 24 of a robotic spacecraft to bring back rocks from the moon in the first bid by any country to retrieve lunar surface samples since the 1970s, a mission underscoring Chinese ambitions in space.

The Long March-5, China's largest carrier rocket, blasted off at 4:30am Beijing time (4:30am, Kuala Lumpur) in a launch from Wenchang Space Launch Center on the southern Chinese island of Hainan carrying the Chang'e-5 spacecraft.