>Xinhua News Agency, Jiuquan, June 17 my country [China] successfully organized and implemented the zero-altitude [Pad abort] escape flight test of the Mengzhou manned spacecraft at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on the 17th, marking a new and important breakthrough in the development of my country's manned lunar exploration project.


>At 12:30, the ignition command was issued, and the escape engine of the Mengzhou manned spacecraft was successfully ignited. The ship-tower combination was pushed into the air by the solid engine. After about 20 seconds, it reached the predetermined height. The return capsule and the escape tower were safely separated, and the parachute was successfully deployed. At 12:32, the return capsule used airbag cushioning to safely land in the predetermined area of the test landing area, and the test was a complete success.

>The Mengzhou manned spacecraft is a new generation of manned earth-to-earth round-trip transportation aircraft developed completely independently by my country for subsequent manned space missions. The spacecraft itself adopts a modular design and can carry up to 7 astronauts. The performance of the whole ship has reached the international advanced level.

Important note: the capsule will launch from Wenchang and any pad/in flight abort would splash down, the nominal case for the capsule is a splash down, with land landing being only for emergency cases.