BEIJING, March 25 -- A modified version of China's Long March-8 carrier rocket has completed a 5.2-meter-diameter fairing separation test and a new satellite-rocket joint operation test.

The rocket was developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology. The successful test represents a critical step in the rocket's development phase, as it prepares to enter its maiden flight test phase.

For a launch vehicle, its fairing needs to have the maximum envelope space and the maximum carrying capacity to improve the adaptability and efficiency of the launch mission. The test verifies the correctness of the fairing separation scheme, and determines the maximum available envelope of the fairing.

Next, the development team will complete a series of other tests including the modal test before the first flight of the improved carrier rocket.