Taiyuan – Spaceflight Now

Chinese Long March 6 rocket delivers nine small satellites to space

April 30, 2021

Nine small Chinese satellites, including a technology experiment to test out ways to capture space debris, rode a Long March 6 rocket into orbit April 27 on a rideshare mission managed by China Great Wall Industry Corp., the government-owned enterprise charged with selling Chinese launch services on the commercial market.

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.

U.S. companies, led by SpaceX, launched more than any other country in 2020

January 5, 2021

Leading all other nations, U.S. launch providers flew 44 missions in 2020 that aimed to place payloads in Earth orbit or deep space, with 40 successes. China followed with 35 successful orbital missions in 39 launch attempts.

Ten Satellogic Earth-imaging satellites successfully launched

November 6, 2020

Ten small high-resolution observation satellites for Satellogic — an Argentine company in the midst of deploying a fleet of Earth-imaging spacecraft — successfully launched Friday on a Chinese Long March 6 rocket.

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 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 ocean monitoring satellite

June 10, 2020

A civilian-operated Chinese oceanography satellite deployed in orbit after lifting off on a Long March 2C rocket Wednesday, joining a predecessor launched in 2018 to monitor ocean color and water temperatures.

Argentine smallsats hitch ride with Chinese payloads on Long March rocket

January 15, 2020

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.