China’s new Long March 7 rocket successfully launched its first orbital mission after its first attempt, which ended in failure a year ago.
The rocket took off from the Venchang Satellite Launch Center on China’s Henan Island at 12:51 a.m. EST (1751 GMT, or 1:51 a.m. local time) on Thursday (March 11), according to a Chinese government-run media outlet. Xinhua.
Space News reports that it is in orbit of a classified experimental satellite named Xi’an-9 (meaning “Experiment-9”).
The satellite will be used primarily for on-orbit tests of new technologies, including space environment monitoring, Xinhua said in its report.
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Space News reports that when China attempted to launch a new Long March 7 rocket on its first flight on March 16, 2020 – about a year ago – the engine malfunction occurred after the first phase detached and the payload was lost. .
The new rocket aims to replace China’s Workhorse Long March 3B rocket as a vehicle to send satellites into a geosynchronous transfer orbit or take satellites en route from Earth to a high geostationary orbit. It is a modified version of the Long March 7 rocket, which was launched in 2016 and has launched two missions into low Earth orbit.
To reach the geosynchronous transfer orbit, the rocket will have to launch the satellite into an elliptical orbit that stretches for about 23,000 miles (37,000 kilometers) from Earth, while in low-Earth orbit satellites range from 100 to 200 miles (161). Is) over our planet.
According to Xinhua, the Long March 7 is also capable of carrying a heavy wage load in orbit, with a carrying capacity of 8 tons (7 metric tons), as opposed to a 6-ton (5.5 metric ton) carrying capacity, according to Xinhua.
China plans to launch three to five long March 7 missions every year before 2025, Xinhua said. . “
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