On August 26, China successfully launched a new group of low Earth orbit satellites from the Hainan commercial spacecraft launch site in Hainan Province.
The satellite group, the tenth of its kind that will constitute an internet constellation, was launched at 3:08 a.m. (Beijing Time) aboard a Long March-8A carrier rocket.
China successfully launched a new group of low Earth orbit satellites from the Hainan commercial spacecraft launch site in Hainan Province on August 26. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
The Long March-8A carrier rocket, developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology under China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), stands 50.5 meters tall and weighs 371 metric tons at liftoff. It can carry up to 7 metric tons to a 700 kilometer sun-synchronous orbit.
For this launch, a specialized testing mode enabled “dual-rocket parallel operations”, enhancing efficiency by allowing most assembly work to be completed in one or two days. This approach shortens the launch preparation time by approximately five days compared to traditional methods.
The 10th group of low Earth orbit satellites were developed by China Academy of Space Technology, also a CASC subsidiary.
This mission marked the 591st launch of the Long March carrier rocket series.
(Executive editor: Wang Ruoting)
