Archive for ‘Long March-6’

13/11/2019

China sends five satellites into orbit via single rocket

CHINA-TAIYUAN-SATELLITE LAUNCH-NINGXIA-1 (CN)

The five new remote-sensing Ningxia-1 satellites are launched by a Long March-6 carrier rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China’s Shanxi Province on Nov. 13, 2019. The five Ningxia-1 satellites were sent into planned orbit here on Wednesday. The satellites are part of a commercial satellite project invested by the Ningxia Jingui Information Technology Co., Ltd. and will be mainly used for remote sensing detection. (Photo by Zheng Taotao/Xinhua)

TAIYUAN, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) — Five new remote-sensing satellites were sent into planned orbit from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China’s Shanxi Province Wednesday.

The five Ningxia-1 satellites were launched by a Long March-6 carrier rocket at 2:35 p.m. (Beijing Time).

The satellites are part of a commercial satellite project invested by the Ningxia Jingui Information Technology Co., Ltd. and will be mainly used for remote sensing detection.

The satellites and carrier rocket were developed by the DFH Satellite Co., Ltd. and the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology.

Wednesday’s launch was the 318th mission for the Long March series carrier rockets.

Source: Xinhua

11/02/2019

China improves Long March-6 rocket for growing commercial launches

BEIJING, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) — China announced Monday that it is developing the modified version of the Long March-6 rocket with four additional solid boosters to increase its carrying capacity.

The improved medium-left carrier rocket will be sent into space by 2020, according to the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASTC), which designed the rocket.

With a short launch preparation cycle, the Long March-6 has been mainly used for the academy’s commercial launches. The rocket completed two space tests in September 2015 and November 2017, carrying 20 satellites and three satellites, respectively.

The three-stage rocket is 29.3 meters long, with a launch weight of 103 tonnes. It has a carrying capacity of one tonne for sun-synchronous orbit.

Fueled by a liquid propellant made of liquid oxygen and kerosene, the Long March-6 is China’s first carrier rocket that uses non-toxic and non-polluting fuel.

Ding Xiufeng, executive manager of the Long March-6 project, said in response to the growing demand for commercial launches, they will have the rockets’ market competitiveness enhanced through technical improvements, so that they can provide easier, faster and more comprehensive services to users at home and abroad.

In January, the China Great Wall Industry Corporation, affiliated with the CASTC, signed a multiple launch services agreement with Satellogic to use the Long March-6 and the Long March-2 rockets to launch 90 satellites for a private Argentine company in the coming years.

The first 13 satellites will be delivered later this year. It will be the first time for the Long March-6 to provide launch services for an international user.

Source: Xinhua

Law of Unintended Consequences

continuously updated blog about China & India

ChiaHou's Book Reviews

continuously updated blog about China & India

What's wrong with the world; and its economy

continuously updated blog about China & India