Three mysterious payloads widely believed to be signals intelligence satellites for the Chinese military rocketed into orbit on top of a Long March 2C booster Monday from a launch base in southwestern China.
China launched a Long March 2C rocket Friday with three Yaogan 30 military satellites, and tested new grid fins on the Long March’s first stage to help guide the spent booster away from populated areas.
A fourth trio of Chinese Yaogan military satellites with secret missions launched Thursday aboard a Long March 2C rocket from the Xichang space base in China’s Sichuan province.
A Long March 2D booster fired into space Sunday from a remote Chinese spaceport in the Gobi Desert, delivering a military spy satellite to a 400-mile-high perch in polar orbit.