May 18 1980
From The Space Library
The People's Republic of China launched a long-range missile May 18 capable of delivering a nuclear warhead as far as Moscow or the west coast of the United States, Xinhua press agency announced. Australian navy ships reported the rocket's splashdown in the ocean about 750 miles northwest of Fiji. Diplomatic sources in Beijing said the rocket: may have been fired from a complex about 1,000 miles west of there, or from the Lop Nor nuclear-arms test area in northwest China. If so, the rocket made a flight of 5,000 miles or more. (W Star, May 19/80, A-6; FBIS, Xinhua in English, May 23/80; Hong Kong AFP in English, May 18/80; Moscow World Svc in English; Tass in English, May 16-25/80)
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