HELSINKI — A Chinese commercial launch firm conducted its second orbital mission Wednesday, sending a reported record 26 satellites into orbit.
The second Lijian-1 solid rocket developed by CAS Space lifted off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert at 12:10 a.m. Eastern June 7.
Aboard were the Shiyan-24A and Shiyan-24B experimental satellites. The other payloads were described as technological demonstrations and commercial remote-sensing by Chinese state media reports.
The 26 payloads aboard the flight surpass the previous national record of 22 satellites launched by the much larger Long March 8 rocket in February 2022.
Shiyan series satellites are often classified and understood to be used to test new technologies and payloads for Chinese space systems. These are usually developed and launched by CASC, China’s main, state-owned space contractor. The June 7 launch indicates CAS Space was awarded a contract for national and defense launches, whereas the vast majority of commercial Chinese launches carry commercial payloads.
Other payloads known to be on the flight included Xi’an Hangtou-8 for Xi’an Aerospace Investment, and Xingshidai-16 and Tianyi-26 for commercial satellite firms ADA Space and Spacety respectively. Also aboard was Fucheng-1, an interferometric imaging synthetic aperture radar (SAR) remote sensing satellite for the six-satellite Mianyang constellation.
CAS Space, sometimes referred to as Zhongke Aerospace, is a commercial spinoff from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). The firm has plans for a series of solid and reusable liquid propellant rockets for launch services and space tourism.
The company announced in April that it had secured $87 million in C round funding. The main backers were investment vehicles linked to CAS.
The Wednesday mission was the second launch of the Lijian-1, just under a year after the first, in July 2022. The rocket has a take-off weight of 135…
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