China's set a new national record for rocket launches today (Oct. 27) with a satellite launch from the Gobi Desert.
The launch was China's 40th mission of 2021 and delivered the Jilin-1 Gaofen 02F remote sensing satellite into orbit on a Kuaizhou-1A rocket. Its success brings China's rocket launch rate beyond the country's previous record of 39 first set in 2018 and tied in 2020, according to SpaceNews.
Jilin-1 Gaofen 02F is a commercial remote sensing satellite and launched on the solid-fueled Kuaizhou-1A from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert. The liftoff took place at 2:19 a.m. EDT Wednesday (0619 GMT or or 2:19 p.m. local time) "and entered the planned orbit," according to state news provider Xinhua. Jilin-1 Gaofen 02F remote sensing satellite is joining a growing constellation of dozens of machines operated by Chang Guang Satellite.
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China's increased launch pace has also meant times when multiple missions lift off within hours or days for each other. A few examples include two missions that launched three hours apart in 2019, an effort that launched four satellites in two days in 2020, and then a series of three launches in four days earlier in 2021.
Kuaizhou-1A is operated by Expace, an entity under the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp., according to SpaceNews. The launch, the 12th of its type, was delayed temporarily due to a COVID-19 outbreak "close to the testing team," SpaceNews noted, although this is the second Kuaizhou-1A launch in a month. (The rocket was grounded in 2020 following a launch problem.)
SpaceNews notes that 36 of the 40 launches in 2021 were performed by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. A few days before Wednesday's launch, the state-owned contractor also sent aloft a military satellite on a classified mission related to addressing orbital space junk.
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