China successfully launches Long March-5 Y3

The third Long March-5 rocket, China's largest carrier rocket, was successfully launched from Wenchang Space Launch Center on Friday night.

Long March-5 Y3 was vertically transported to the launch center in south China's Hainan Province on December 21 ahead of the launch.

The rocket is vital to China's future space missions. It will be tasked with launching China's first Mars probe and sending the Chang'e-5 lunar probe to the moon to bring lunar samples back to Earth.

In addition, a modified version of the rocket, Long March-5B, will be used to construct China's space station.