NANJING — China's upgraded tracking vessel Yuanwang-6 is sailing to the Pacific Ocean from a port in East China's Jiangsu province on May 20 for multiple maritime missions of spacecraft monitoring.

The vessel's last voyage to the Pacific was 22 months ago.

Yuanwang-6, commissioned in April 2008, represents the third generation of the country's Yuanwang space-tracking ships. After completing a monitoring mission of the Chang'e-4 relay satellite in July 2018, the vessel has undergone maintenance and maritime calibration tests.

Yang Bianjiao, captain of Yuanwang-6, said the upcoming mission will test the vessel's new equipment and improvement in measuring and controlling operation, laying foundations for future missions including the Mars exploration and Chang'e-5 lunar probe launch.

Crew members have examined facilities and conducted a series of training programs and tests before the voyage to improve their emergency response capabilities.