103rd successful rocket launch breaks record

The Lengthy March provider rocket household, China’s spine launch car fleet, has set a brand new file for profitable consecutive launches after a Lengthy March 2D launch over the weekend, in accordance with the China Aerospace Science and Expertise Corp, the nation’s main house contractor.

The rocket blasted off at 1:37 am Saturday from the Xichang Satellite tv for pc Launch Middle in Sichuan province and later positioned a sequence of Yaogan 35-04 satellites, the fourth group of spacecraft within the Yaogan 35 remote-sensing community, into preset orbits, the State-owned firm revealed in a information launch.

Distant sensing is the method of detecting and monitoring the bodily traits of an space by measuring its mirrored and emitted radiation at a distance, usually from an plane or a satellite tv for pc.

The discharge mentioned that the satellites are tasked with scientific experiments, surveying land assets, forecasting agricultural yields and serving to in catastrophe prevention and aid.

Since Could 5, 2020, the Lengthy March rocket sequence has achieved 103 consecutive profitable launches in simply 27 months, transporting 200 spacecraft into orbit, together with house station modules, a lunar probe, a Mars probe and manned spaceships, the house conglomerate famous.

The earlier file for consecutive Lengthy March launch successes was 102, set between 1996 and 2011.

Lengthy March 2D, designed and constructed by the corporate’s Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Expertise, is propelled by liquid propellants and has a liftoff thrust of 300 metric tons. It’s able to sending spacecraft with a mixed weight of 1.2 tons right into a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 700 kilometers.

The final time the mannequin was used was in late July, when it was tasked with putting the third group of Yaogan 35 satellites in orbit.

China launched the primary and second teams of Yaogan 35 satellites in November 2021 and June this yr.

Saturday’s launch was the 433rd flight of the Lengthy March rocket fleet.

China has carried out 28 house launch missions to date this yr and plans to conduct some 60 launches in all.

China Aerospace Science and Expertise Corp is growing a next-generation manned rocket and a super-heavy launch car, which it plans to make use of to ship crewed missions to the moon and understand future expeditions to Mars, Jupiter and asteroids, the corporate mentioned.