Tag: Long March

  • Successful launch expands China’s Beidou navigation system

    A Long March 3C rocket lifts off Monday with a new Beidou navigation satellite. Credit: Xinhua A new addition to China’s Beidou navigation network launched Monday on top of a Long March 3C rocket, which injected the satellite into an orbit more than 13,000 miles above Earth several hours later. The Beidou spacecraft will test…

  • Belarusian communications satellite launched from China

    A Long March 3B rocket lifted off at 1657 GMT (11:57 a.m. EST) with the Belintersat 1 communications satellite. Credit: Xinhua A Chinese rocket carried the first communications satellite for Belarus into orbit Friday, recording a success in the first space launch this year. The Belintersat 1 telecom craft lifted off at 1657 GMT (11:57…

  • China opens 2016 campaign with Long March 3B launch of Belintersat-1

    China opens 2016 campaign with Long March 3B launch of Belintersat-1

    The Chinese have conducted their first orbital launch of 2016 with the lofting of a new communications satellite for Belarus. Belintersat-1 was launched at 16:57 UTC on Friday via a Long March 3B/G2 rocket. The launch was conducted from the Xichang’s Satellite Launch Center’s LC3 pad. Chinese Launch: Belintersat-1 is based on the Chinese DFH-4…

  • China launches eagle-eyed satellite to stare down at Earth

    China launched a high-altitude satellite Monday fitted with a powerful telescope to collect nearly continuous imagery of the Asia-Pacific from geostationary orbit, an apparently unique capability that could help track foreign naval activity, according to Chinese news reports. The Gaofen 4 spacecraft lifted off at 1604 GMT (11:04 a.m. EST) Monday from the Xichang launch…

  • China launches eagle-eyed satellite to stare down at Earth

    China launched a high-altitude satellite Monday fitted with a powerful telescope to collect nearly continuous imagery of the Asia-Pacific from geostationary orbit, an apparently unique capability that could help track foreign naval activity, according to Chinese news reports. The Gaofen 4 spacecraft lifted off at 1604 GMT (11:04 a.m. EST) Monday from the Xichang launch…

  • Long March 3B lofts Gaofen-4 to close out 2015

    The Chinese have closed out the year with the launch of its Long March 3B/G2 rocket. The launch involved the orbiting of a geostationary remote sensing bird, known as Gaofen-4 (GF-4). It was launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 16:05 UTC. Chinese Launch: Gaofen-4 is China’s first geosynchronous orbit remote sensing satellite featuring…

  • China sends dark matter probe into orbit

    China launched the first in a series of planned space science probes Thursday, putting a satellite into orbit to study high-energy cosmic rays for signals hinting at hypothesized clumps of dark matter that have eluded detection for decades. The Dark Matter Particle Explorer, or DAMPE, mission is the first dedicated astrophysics observatory put into orbit…

  • Chinese Long March 2D lofts DAMPE – A Dark Matter Investigator

    Chinese Long March 2D lofts DAMPE – A Dark Matter Investigator

    A new satellite – that will help humanity to unravel the mysteries of the ‘Dark Matter’ – was launched on Thursday by China. The launch of the DAMPE satellite took place at 00:12 UTC using a Long March-2D launch vehicle from the 603 Launch Pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center’s LC43. Chinese Launch: DAMPE (DArk…

  • Long March 3B lofts Chinasat-1C

    Long March 3B lofts Chinasat-1C

    China launched the second of a new generation of tactical communications satellites. Zhongxing-1C – or Chinasat-1C – was launched at 16:46 UTC on December 9, 2015 – from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. A Long March-3B/G2 rocket was used to loft the spacecraft uphill.   Chinese Launch: Zhongxing-1C is possibly the second satellite of the…

  • Long March lofts communications craft for Chinese government

    A Long March 3B rocket lifted off at 1646 GMT (11:46 a.m. EST) Wednesday with the Chinasat 1C satellite. Credit: Xinhua A Long March 3B rocket driven by four strap-on boosters blasted off Wednesday from the Xichang space base in southwestern China, successfully delivering a communications payload to orbit a half-hour later to likely begin…