China’s new Long March 7A missile successfully launched its first orbital mission after its first attempt ended in failure a year ago.
The missile took off Thursday (March 11) at 12:51 a.m. EST (1751 GMT, or 1:51 a.m. local time March 12) from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on China’s Hainan island, according to Chinese state media. Xinhua.
It orbited a classified experimental satellite called Shiyan-9 (meaning “experiment-9”), which was developed by the China Academy of Space Technology, according to a report from SpaceNews.
“The satellite will be used primarily for in-space tests of new technologies, including monitoring of the space environment,” Xinhua said in his report.
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When China attempted to launch the new Long March 7A rocket on its debut flight on March 16, 2020 – almost exactly a year ago – an engine failure occurred shortly after the first stage separation and payload was lost, SpaceNews reported.
The new missile is intended to replace China’s workhorse Long March 3B missile as the launch vehicle to send satellites into geosynchronous transfer orbit, or the path that satellites take to reach geostationary orbit high above Earth. It is a modified version of the Long March 7 rocket, which debuted in 2016 and launched two missions to low Earth orbit.
To achieve geosynchronous orbit, a rocket must launch the satellite in an elliptical orbit extending about 23,000 miles (37,000 kilometers) above the Earth, according to NASA, while satellites in low Earth orbit 100 up to 200 miles (161 to 322 km). ) above our planet.
The Long March 7A is also capable of delivering heavier payloads into orbit, with a payload of 8 tons (7 tons), as opposed to the Long March 7’s 6 tons (5.5 tons) payload capacity, according to Xinhua.
China plans to launch three to five Long March 7A missions per year by 2025, Xinhua said, adding that “scientists will further upgrade the launch vehicle to meet the demand for sending satellites and deep-space probes. to explore the moon, Mars and asteroids. “
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