China launches new low-orbit internet satellites
China on Monday launched a group of low-Earth orbit internet satellites from a commercial spacecraft launch site in the southern island province of Hainan, CGTN reports.
A Long March-12 carrier rocket, carrying the seventh group of low-orbit internet satellites, blasted off at 6:21 p.m. (Beijing Time) and sent the satellite into the preset orbit.
Developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, the Long March-12 rocket is a new-generation two-stage carrier rocket capable of sending payloads of no less than 12 tonnes to a low-Earth orbit and those of no less than 6 tonnes to a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 700 kilometers.
The launch marked the second flight mission of the Long March-12 rocket after its maiden flight in last November, and the 587th flight mission of the Long March rocket series.
As reported previously, SpaceX, the American Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, launched 28 novel Starlink satellites into space.
