Cape Canaveral was the departure point for more space launches in 2015 than in any year since 2003, with 17 takeoffs by Atlas, Falcon and Delta rockets hoisting U.S. military satellites, commercial payloads and cargo for the International Space Station.
China launched a high-altitude satellite Monday fitted with a powerful telescope to collect nearly continuous imagery of the Asia-Pacific from geostationary orbit, an apparently unique capability that could help track foreign naval activity, according to Chinese news reports.
China launched the first in a series of planned space science probes Thursday, putting a satellite into orbit to study high-energy cosmic rays for signals that could hint at hypothesized clumps of dark matter that have eluded detection for decades.
A Long March 3B rocket driven by four strap-on boosters blasted off Wednesday from the Xichang space base in southwestern China, delivering a communications payload to orbit a half-hour later to likely begin service for the Chinese military.
China launched its latest military spy satellite Thursday with the successful deployment of the Yaogan 29 payload in polar orbit, likely adding a new radar reconnaissance craft to the country’s space fleet.
Built and financed by China, a $258 million Laotian communications satellite project launched Friday aboard a Long March 3B rocket to better connect the mountainous Southeast Asia nation and surrounding regions.
China launched a government-owned surveillance satellite Sunday, adding another member to the country’s reconnaissance network after liftoff on a Long March 4B booster.
A Chinese Long March 3B rocket lifted off Tuesday from the country’s Xichang space base, heading into orbit with a secretive payload believed by Western observers to be a military communications satellite.
China’s third Tianhui mapping satellite, built for land resource surveys and scientific research, rocketed into space Monday aboard a Long March 2D rocket, Chinese state media reported.
A commercial Chinese communications satellite launched Friday aboard a Long March 3B rocket on a mission to broadcast television to consumers across the Asia-Pacific and connect passengers on ships and airplanes with the Internet.