THE combination of the Tianzhou-5 cargo spacecraft and a Long March-7 Y6 carrier rocket has been transferred to the launching area, the China Manned Space Agency  (CMSA) said yesterday.

The agency said the cargo spacecraft will be launched in the near future at an appropriate time. The facilities and equipment at the launch site, the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in China’s southern island province of Hainan, are in good condition, and various pre-launch function checks and joint tests will be carried out as planned, the agency added.

Meanwhile, the Tianzhou-4 cargo spacecraft, carrying supplies for China’s space station, separated from the orbiting station combination at 2:55 p.m. yesterday and switched to independent flight, after completing all assigned tasks, according to the CMSA.

(Xinhua)