HELSINKI — China sent an undisclosed number of satellites into orbit Thursday to test satellite internet technologies.
A Long March 2D rocket using a Yuanzheng-3 upper stage lifted off at 5:00 a.m. Eastern (1000 UTC) Nov. 23 from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp., (CASC), only announced the nature of the payload when it declared the launch successful.
No details of the launch payloads were revealed. Xinhua tersely described the launch as carrying a single “experiment satellite for satellite internet technologies.”
A launch statement from the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST) however suggests that separate satellites were developed by SAST and the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites (IAMCAS) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) respectively.
Space object tracking from the U.S. Space Force’s space domain awareness teams will later reveal the number of objects associated with the launch that have been cataloged in orbit.
A pair of satellites under the same name launched from Jiuquan spaceport July 9. That launch used a Long March 2C rocket with a YZ-1S upper stage. Xinhua again characterized the launch as a single satellite, yet two entered orbit.
The most likely application for the satellites is testing for China’s national satellite internet megaconstellation project, named Guowang.
The project envisions placing 13,000 satellites in low Earth orbit, partly in response to Starlink and other planned LEO megaconstellations. SpaceX has launched 5,000 Starlink satellites since 2019 and is seeking international approvals which could see it expand to 40,000 Starlinks in orbit.
IAMCAS and the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), another major subsidiary of CASC, were previously understood to be two entities contracted to manufacture satellites for Guowang.
CASC had stated earlier in the year that it intended to begin launching…
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