The rocket was launched from the Venchang Space Launch site in China’s southern Henan province. Lift from F. Waiting for a witness, photos of the scene gather the crowds with tents in the distance.
According to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the rocket carries the Xi’an-9 satellite to test new technologies such as space environment monitoring.
The CASC built the experimental satellite in just eight months, setting a record for medium to large size remote sensing satellites, the government-owned space contractor said.
The Long March 7 is a three-stage rocket with three boosts, measuring 197 feet (60.1 m) long and 11 feet (3.35 m) in diameter. It is capable of sending seven metric tons of payloads to a geostationary orbit (GTO) – about 22,000 miles (35,405 kilometers) above the Earth’s surface.
The rocket is primarily designed to launch satellites into the GTO, which is expected to be upgraded to the moon, Mars and other planets in the future, according to the CASC.
In March 2020, China’s first attempt to launch Long March 7 met with a launch failure at the Venchang space launch site. At the time, Chinese officials said engineers would investigate the cause of the failure, without giving further details.
According to the CASC, China expects to launch three to five Long March 7A rockets every year before 2025.
China has an ambitious space program with billions of dollars in government investment. In recent months, the country has launched missions to both the moon and Mars.
In July 2020, China launched its first unmanned mission to Mars – the Tianwan-1 probe, which entered red planet orbit in February this year. And in December 2020, China’s unmanned Chang mission brought samples of the moon back to Earth – becoming the third country to successfully collect rocks from the moon.
The report is contributed by Yong Xiong of CNN.
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