Long March 4B – Spaceflight Now

China launches experimental Shiyan satellite

April 13, 2021

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 light and improve the sensitivity of on-board optics.

China launches environmental monitoring satellites

September 28, 2020

Without any public warning, a Chinese Long March 4B rocket lifted off Sunday with two “environmental monitoring satellites” that the country’s state media said will replace a pair of spacecraft launched in 2008 that collected data to assist in a series of disaster relief efforts over the last decade.

China launches Haiyang oceanography satellite

September 22, 2020

A Chinese oceanography satellite designed to measure wave height and winds launched Monday aboard a Long March 4B rocket equipped with grid fins to help control the first stage’s descent back to Earth, an improvement aimed at keeping falling boosters away from Chinese villages.

China launches another Gaofen Earth observation satellite

September 8, 2020

A new optical Earth observation satellite launched by China Monday joins the country’s remote sensing network for land surveys, urban planning, and agriculture monitoring.

China launches high-resolution mapping satellite

July 25, 2020

China launched a Long March 4B rocket Saturday with a high-resolution mapping satellite for the Chinese Ministry of Natural Resources and two smaller spacecraft designed for astronomical observations and data relay services.

Chinese launches loft satellites to study space environment and observe Earth

July 6, 2020

China launched a Long March 2D rocket Saturday with a satellite Chinese officials claimed will study the space environment and conduct technology demonstrations, less than two days after a Long March 4B rocket took off from a different launch site with an Earth-imaging payload.

China launches environmental satellite built in cooperation with Brazil

December 21, 2019

The sixth in a series of environmental monitoring satellites jointly developed by China and Brazil successfully launched Dec. 20 on top of a Long March 4B rocket.

Chinese mapping satellite launches on Long March 4B rocket

November 3, 2019

An Earth observation satellite designed to collect three-dimensional mapping imagery rode a Long March 4B rocket into orbit Sunday with three smaller spacecraft, including one to test an innovative French-made iodine thruster, and another satellite built for Sudan.

China launches Earth-observing satellites, solar sail experiment

September 12, 2019

Two Earth-imaging satellites and an experimental solar sail payload rocketed into orbit Thursday aboard a Chinese Long March 4B launcher, the first flight for China’s Long March 4 rocket family since an upper stage failure in May.

China launches mapping satellites

April 30, 2019

A Chinese Long March 4B rocket successfully launched two Tianhui satellites Monday to conduct land surveys, mapping and scientific experiments in space, according to reports from state-run media.