HELSINKI — A pair of Chinese rockets launched 11 mobility services satellites for an automaker and nine further, diverse satellites into orbit late Friday.
A Long March 2C rocket lifted off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwestern China at 6:37 p.m. Eastern (2337 UTC) Feb. 2, followed hours later by a Jielong-3 solid rocket launching from a mobile sea platform at 10:06 p.m. (0305 UTC, Feb. 3).
The former launch sent 11 satellites into orbit for the space arm of Chinese automaker Geely. The spacecraft were cataloged by U.S. Space Force space domain awareness in roughly 595 by 605-kilometer orbits with inclinations of 50 degrees.
The 11 satellites are part of the planned “Geely Future Mobility Constellation” constellation. The constellation is focused on autonomous drive, smart connectivity and other services.
The first phase of 72 satellites are planned to be sent into orbit by 2025 to establish global real-time data communication services, according to Geespace. A second phase of 168 satellites will follow to deliver global centimeter-level high-precision positioning services.
The completed constellation is to consist of 240 satellites, integrating communication, navigation, and remote sensing capabilities. Geespace states its satellites also have AI remote sensing functions for providing 1-5 meter resolution imaging.
A first batch of nine satellites were launched in June 2022, also using a Long March 2C from Xichang. Geely established a headquarters for its subsidiary Geespace in the Nansha district of Guangzhou in 2021. CAS Space, a launch arm of the state’s Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), is also based in the same industrial park.
Smart Dragon sea launch
The latter launch saw nine satellites launched into sun-synchronous orbit on the second Jielong-3 (Smart Dragon-3) solid rocket launch within two months. The rocket lifted off from a…
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