A Long March-4C carrier rocket was launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Shanxi province on March 10, sending two Earth-observation satellites into preset orbit.
A Long March-4C carrier rocket, carrying Tianhui 6A and 6B Earth-observation satellites, is launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Shanxi province on March 10. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
The two satellites, Tianhui 6A and 6B, were generally developed by China Spacesat Co., Ltd, a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), and once operational are expected to play a role in geological survey, land resources investigation and scientific experiments.
A Long March 4C carrier rocket, carrying Tianhui 6A and 6B Earth-observation satellites, is ready to launch at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Shanxi province on March 10. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
The Long March-4C carrier rocket, generally developed by CASC's Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, is a three-stage storable liquid propellant launch vehicle and is capable of launching various type of satellites with different orbit requirements. It can also send several satellites into orbit on a single launch.
The carrier rocket has a payload capacity of 3 metric tons at a sun-synchronous orbit 700 kilometers from the Earth.
The launch on March 10 was the 465th flight mission of the Long March carrier rocket series.
(Executive editor: Xie Yunxiao)
