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China launches communications satellite BY STEPHEN CLARK SPACEFLIGHT NOW Posted: September 14, 2006 China quietly launched a new communications satellite Tuesday to bring broadcasting services to users scattered throughout China. The launch was the second for China this week. The Zhongxing 22A communications bird launched at 1602 GMT (12:02 p.m. EDT) Tuesday, or near midnight Wednesday in Beijing. After lifting off from the Xichang space center in southwestern China, the three-stage Long March 3A booster flew eastward from the launch site before injecting its payload into a geostationary transfer orbit about 25 minutes later, the state-run Xinhua news agency said. Chinese news reports said Zhongxing 22A was placed in an orbit flying between 128 miles and 26,100 miles from Earth's surface. It is expected that the craft's on-board propulsion system will soon conduct maneuvers to circularize the orbit at an altitude of around 22,300 miles over the Equator, where it's speed will match that of Earth's rotation. The satellite will be positioned near 98 degrees East longitude, or above the Indian Ocean. Zhongxing 22A is beginning an 8-year mission to provide communications services on behalf of the China Telecommunications Broadcast Satellite Company, according to Xinhua. Tuesday's launch closely followed the blastoff of a recoverable scientific satellite Saturday for a reported two-week stay in space. That spacecraft is carrying over 400 pounds of plant and fungi seeds to study their response to the effects of space radiation and microgravity. |
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The Hubble Space Telescope has become astronomy's crown jewel for knowledge and discovery. The great observatory was placed high above Earth following its launch aboard space shuttle Discovery on April 24, 1990. The astronauts of STS-31 recount their mission in this post-flight film presentation.
The long voyage of exploration to Jupiter and its many moons by the Galileo spacecraft began on October 18, 1989 with launch from Kennedy Space Center aboard the space shuttle Atlantis. The crew of mission STS-34 tell the story of their flight to dispatch the probe -- fitted with an Inertial Upper Stage rocket motor -- during this post-flight presentation film.