Jilin 1 – Spaceflight Now

China successfully launches satellites from ocean-going platform

September 17, 2020 Stephen Clark

A solid-fueled Long March 11 launcher delivered nine small Chinese Earth observation satellites to orbit Tuesday after firing off a ship positioned in the Yellow Sea.

Chinese smallsat launcher fails

September 12, 2020 Stephen Clark

A Chinese small satellite launcher failed after liftoff Saturday, destroying a commercial Earth-imaging payload before it could enter orbit.

New Chinese satellite launcher fails on first flight

July 10, 2020 Stephen Clark

The first flight of the new Chinese Kuaizhou 11 solid-fueled rocket failed to place two small satellites into orbit Friday, and Chinese state media said the cause of the malfunction is under investigation.

Argentine smallsats hitch ride with Chinese payloads on Long March rocket

January 15, 2020 Stephen Clark

Two Earth-imaging microsatellites built and owned by the Argentine company Satellogic launched on a Long March 2D rocket from China Wednesday, sharing a ride into orbit with two Chinese spacecraft.

China launches two Kuaizhou rockets in six hours

December 7, 2019 Stephen Clark

Two solid-fueled Kuaizhou 1A rockets fired into orbit from the same spaceport in northern China Saturday, demonstrating a further advance in China’s aim for a quick-response, on-call satellite launch capability.

Two Chinese satellite launchers lift off three hours apart

November 13, 2019 Stephen Clark

Chinese rockets performed two satellite delivery missions in a three-hour span Wednesday, carrying a commercial Earth-imaging satellite and five mysterious surveillance payloads into orbit.

China’s first sea launch declared a success

June 5, 2019 Stephen Clark

A solid-fueled Long March 11 rocket fired out of a container aboard a barge in the Yellow Sea on Wednesday with seven satellites heading into orbit on China’s first space launch from an ocean vessel.

China’s Long March 11 rocket lofts Earth-imaging and tech demo satellites

January 22, 2019 Stephen Clark

China’s second space launch of the year released four satellites into orbits more than 300 miles in altitude, adding two spacecraft to the Chinese-owned Jilin 1 commercial Earth-imaging constellation and deploying two smallsats on tech demo missions.

Testbed for Canadian data relay network successfully launched from China

January 22, 2018 Stephen Clark

A nanosatellite built in Scotland for Kepler Communications, a Toronto company planning a 140-satellite global data relay network, rode to orbit Friday with five Chinese satellites launched aboard a solid-fueled Long March 11 booster from the Gobi Desert.

Three video imaging satellites launched from China

November 21, 2017 Stephen Clark

A Long March 6 booster took off Tuesday from China with three commercial Earth observation satellites designed to record high-definition video and color imagery from a perch more than 300 miles above the planet.