China launched three new satellites final week, offering no particulars of the work they may do in orbit.
A Lengthy March 2D rocket lifted off from Jiuquan Satellite tv for pc Launch Heart within the Gobi Desert at 2:00 a.m. EST (0700 GMT, or 3:00 p.m. native time) on Friday (Jan. 13), sending three categorised satellites into orbit.
The China Aerospace Science and Expertise Company (CASC), which produced each the rocket and satellites, announced (opens in new tab) the profitable launch of the Yaogan 37 and Shiyan 22A and 22B satellites inside an hour of liftoff.
Associated: The latest news about China’s space program
No particulars in regards to the three satellites had been offered. Yaogan 37 will seemingly enhance China’s ever-growing distant sensing capabilities, whereas the Shiyan designation is assumed to use to satellites testing new and untried applied sciences and payloads.
Chinese language state media said solely that the three satellites will “primarily be used for in-orbit verification of recent applied sciences corresponding to space surroundings monitoring,” as is typical for each the largely categorised Yaogan distant sensing collection and Shiyan satellites.
The U.S. Space Force‘s 18th Area Protection Squadron tracked and cataloged three satellites in roughly round, 320-mile-altitude (515 kilometers) orbits with inclinations of 43 levels.
The launch was China’s fourth of 2023, with CASC stating earlier in January that it plans to launch greater than 50 orbital missions this yr.
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