China launches 23rd batch of low-Earth-orbit internet satellites

The satellites were launched on Tuesday from the Hainan Commercial Space Launch Site in Wenchang, Hainan Province, aboard a Long March-8A carrier rocket. The rocket lifted off at 4:52 p.m. Beijing Time and delivered the satellites into their planned orbit.

The mission served as a full-system validation flight following upgrades to the Long March-8A rocket. The improvements increased its payload capacity, enabling more frequent launches of large satellite batches to support the continued development of the internet constellation.

Earlier, Qazinform reported China upgrades the BeiDou satellite navigation system.