Tag: Long March 3B
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China launches Tianlian II-06 data relay satellite
China successfully sent a new data relay satellite into orbit from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China’s Sichuan Province on July 23, 2026. The Tianlian II-06 satellite was launched at 8 p.m. (Beijing Time) aboard a Long March-3B carrier rocket and entered its planned orbit. Tianlian II-06 is primarily used to provide data…
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China extends its reach into the Solar System with launch of asteroid mission
A Chinese spacecraft built to collect specimens from an unexplored asteroid and return them to Earth successfully launched Wednesday from a military-run spaceport in the country’s mountainous interior. Liftoff aboard a Long March 3B rocket at 1:31 pm EDT (17:31 UTC) from the Xichang launch base kicked off the second mission in a series of…
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Do these Buddhist gods hint at the purpose of China’s super-secret satellites?
Mission patches are a decades-old tradition in spaceflight. They can range from the figurative to the abstract, prompting valuable insights or feeding confusion. Some are just plain weird. Ars published a story a few months ago on spaceflight patches from NASA, SpaceX, Russia, and the NRO, the US government’s spy satellite agency, which is responsible for…
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China launches two satellites following EVA at Tiangong station
The Chinese space program has resumed launches after going over a month without a single launch due to the Chinese New Year and Spring Festival holiday period. On Thursday, Feb. 23, at 7:49 PM Beijing time (11:49 UTC), Chang Zheng 3B Y93 flew successfully from pad LC-2 at Xichang in southwest China. This flight, the…
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China launches Zhongxing-19 mission from Xichang
China successfully launched the Zhongxing-19 mission on a Chang Zheng 3B/E rocket today. The rocket took off at 11:50 UTC from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in China and launched into geostationary transfer orbit (GTO). This launch is a replacement payload for the previously malfunctioned Zhongxing-18 satellite, which was initially launched on the same rocket…
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China lofts new Tianlian-2 data relay satellite from Xichang
China has successfully launched the third satellite of their Tianlian 2 series of data and relay satellites. Liftoff occurred from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in inner China at 16:30 UTC on July 12, 2022, utilizing a Chang Zheng 3B/E (CZ-3B/E) rocket. Tianlian, translated as “sky chain,” is the name of the Chinese data relay…
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China’s Chang Zheng 3B/E launches ChinaSat 6D
China has successfully launched the ChinaSat 6D satellite into geostationary transfer orbit Friday via their Chang Zheng 3B/E rocket. The launch took place at 12:00 UTC (8:00 PM local time) from Launch Complex 2 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. The ChinaSat 6D satellite, also known as Zhongxing 6D, was deployed into orbit by the…
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China completes 2021 with military TJSW-9 satellite launch
China concluded its busy 2021 launch manifest Wednesday with the successful launch of a Chang Zheng 3B, which lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 16:43 UTC. Wednesday’s launch, which carried the Tongxin Jishu Shiyan Weixing 9 (TJSW-9) satellite into geostationary transfer orbit, marked China’s 55th and final orbital launch of the year…
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China launches second Tianlian II communication satellite
China has launched the second satellite for the Tianlian II tracking and data relay series. This satellite enables communications between spacecraft and is part of the new series of Tianlian satellites, after the initial launch of the first Tianlian II in March of 2019. The liftoff occurred at 00:09 local time on December 14 from…
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Chang Zheng 3B lifts Shijian 21 to orbit
Without any prior announcements, China launched another Chang Zheng 3B/E rocket with the Shijian 21 payload to Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO). The rocket took off at 01:27 UTC on October 24 from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center’s LC-2. The launch was called a success two hours later and it was confirmed that the payload, Shijian…