Tag: Long March
-
Large Chinese rocket tumbling toward toward unguided re-entry this weekend
A Long March 5B rocket lifts off with the Tianhe space station module. Credit: Xinhua For the second time in a year, a large spent Chinese rocket stage intentionally left in orbit is heading for an unguided plunge back into Earth’s atmosphere Saturday or Sunday somewhere between 41.5 degrees north and south latitude. The heavy-lift…
-
China launches four satellites on Long March 2C rocket
A Long March 2C rocket lifts off Thursday with four Chinese satellites. Credit: Xinhua Three Chinese military satellites and a civilian data relay payload launched Thursday aboard a Long March 2C rocket. The four spacecraft rocketed into a 370-mile-high (600-kilometer) orbit from the Xichang launch base, situated in a mountainous part of Sichuan province in…
-
China launches military observation satellite
A Long March 4C rocket lifts off with the Yaogan 34 military observation satellite. Credit: Xinhua China launched an optical Earth observation satellite April 30, beginning a mission designed to provide detailed reconnaissance imagery to the Chinese military. The Yaogan 34 spacecraft lifted off on top of a medium-class Long March 4C rocket at 3:27…
-
China launches Long March 6 with nine satellites
China’s lightweight Long March (Chang Zheng) 6 rocket has successfully launched nine small satellites in a rideshare mission Tuesday. The launch took place at 11:20 China Standard Time (03:20 UTC) from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre in China’s northern Shanxi province. Tuesday’s launch was a rideshare mission, dubbed 长征快车 – Chang Zheng Kuaiche or “Long…
-
China launches experimental Shiyan satellite
A Long March 4B rocket takes off from the Taiyuan space base with a Shiyan 6 satellite. Credit: Xinhua China launched the third in a series of experimental Shiyan 6 satellites April 8 aboard a Long March 4B rocket, beginning a mission to test new space technologies, including a new super-black coating to absorb stray…
-
China launches experimental satellite on a Long March 4B
China launched an experimental satellite from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center on Friday morning using the Long March-4B – Chang Zheng-4B – (Y49) rocket. The launch took place at 23:01 UTC (Thursday) from Launch Complex LC9. Onboard was the third Shiyan-6 satellite that the Chinese press refers to for space environment surveys and experiments on…
-
China launches spy satellite triplet for third time this year
A Long March 4C rocket lifts off Saturday with three Yaogan 31 military satellites. Credit: Xinhua Three Chinese military satellites launched Saturday aboard a Long March 4C rocket, joining six others China has sent into orbit since the start of the year on ocean surveillance missions. The three Yaogan 31-series satellites took off at 0219…
-
China’s Long March 7A rocket successful on second flight
China’s Long March 7A rocket lifts off from the Wenchang launch base on Hainan Island. Credit: Xinhua The second flight of China’s new medium-lift Long March 7A rocket successfully placed an experimental satellite into orbit Thursday, following a failed launch of the same configuration last year caused by a problem in a booster liquid oxygen…
-
Another trio of Chinese military satellites successfully deployed
A Long March 4C rocket takes off Feb. 24 with another trio of Yaogan 31 military satellites. Credit: Xinhua Weeks after the launch of an earlier trio of Chinese military satellites, another spacecraft triplet successfully took off Feb. 24 aboard a Long March 4C rocket on a clandestine mission that analysts believe may involve spying…
-
China launches military satellite toward geostationary orbit
A Long March 3B rocket takes off with the TJS 6 satellite. Credit: CASC A mysterious Chinese government satellite, believed to be a military-operated early warning station, successfully launched into orbit Feb. 4 on top of a Long March 3B rocket. The three-stage, 184-foot-tall (55-meter) rocket lifted off from the Xichang space center at 1536…