After its fifth launch of 2023, China has 14 new satellites in space.
The Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in northern China saw the launch of a Long March 2D rocket on Saturday (Jan. 14) at 10:14 p.m. EST (0314 GMT or 11:14 a.m. Beijing time on Jan. 15). As the rocket rose over the icy hills of Taiyuan’s surroundings, insulation tiles began to fall from it.
For a variety of customers, there were 14 satellites on board. Six of the payloads were Jilin-1 optical and infrared remote sensing satellites for a commercial satellite company that was established by a division of a Chinese Academy of Sciences research institute (CAS). Currently in space are more than 70 satellites belonging to Changguang Satellite Technology, which wants to eventually have 300 satellites by 2025 in its constellation.
Qilu-2 and Qilu-3, which the Chinese state media described as high-resolution optical and wide-swath optical satellites, were also on board.
The Hong Kong Aerospace Science and Technology Group created three further spacecraft, the Golden Bauhinia Satellites 3, 4, and 6 (opens in new tab). The last is a test satellite for an optical constellation that will be used for agricultural purposes, whilst the first two are optical remote sensing satellites.
The last three satellites were Tianzhi-2D, a technical test satellite for CAS’s Institute of Software, developed by Hunan Hangsheng Satellite Technolog, and Luojia-3 (01), a remote sensing satellite for Wuhan University produced by state-owned DFH Satellite. The other two satellites were BUPT-1 and BUPT-1 scientific test satellites for Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications and Wuhan University, respectively.
China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), a sizable state-owned space and defence contractor, created the Long March rocket for the mission. According to CASC, it will launch more than 60 times in 2023(opens in new tab).
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