Long March 2C sends a triplet of Yaogan-30 satellites into orbit
Long March 2C sends a triplet of Yaogan-30 satellites into orbit. Photo Credit: Liang Keyan / Xinhua
On Tuesday, December 26, 2017, at 3:44 a.m. local time (19:44 GMT / 2:44 p.m. EST on Dec. 25), China launched its Long March 2C rocket with a trio of Yaogan-30 satellites into space. Liftoff of the booster was from Launch Complex 3 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center (XSLC) in China’s Sichuan Province.
The mission was initially scheduled for December 27 but was moved to two days earlier; however, the exact cause of the reschedule was not revealed by Chinese media.
Long March 2C / Yaogan-30 trio launch. Photo Credit: Liang Keyan / Xinhua
As was the case with previous launches performed by Beijing, the details about this mission were also kept under wraps. China has not disclosed any information about the pre-launch preparations either and insists that the trio of the newly launched satellites will be used for civilian purposes.
“As the third batch of the Yaogan-30 project, the satellites will conduct electromagnetic environmental probes and other experiments,” the Xinhua state-run press agency informed.
However, Western analysts suppose that Yaogan-30 is a strictly military project.
Firing a cluster of its four YF-20C engines, the Long March 2C rocket completed a short vertical ascent and started heading southeast, over mainland China and Taiwan, toward the Philippine Sea. The flight ended with the insertion of the three satellites into low-Earth orbit (LEO).
“The satellites have entered its preset orbit and the launch was proclaimed a success,” Xinhua confirmed.
Developed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the Yaogan-30 03 trio consists of three identical satellites equipped with two deployable solar arrays. Detailed technical parameters of this group were not disclosed by China.
Yaogan is a series of Earth-observing satellites launched by China since 2006. Although Chinese officials insist that these spacecraft are used for civilian purposes, experts believe that Yaogan is a network of spy satellites.
The previous Yaogan trio of satellites, Yaogan-30 02, was launched into space by a Long March 2C rocket at 02:10 CST on November 25, 2017. After the December 25/26 launch, the fleet of Yaogan-30 spacecraft in orbit was expanded to nine.
The Long March 2C booster used for this launch is a two-stage rocket developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT). It is mainly used to launch satellites into LEO and Sun-synchronous orbits (SSO). The 138 feet (42 meters) tall launch vehicle is capable of lofting payloads of up to 3.85 metric tons to LEO and has an SSO capability of up to 1.4 metric tons. For some launches, the rocket could fly with an optional third stage.
Long March 2C carried out its first flight on September 9, 1982, from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, orbiting the Fanhui Shei Weixing recoverable satellite.
The December 25/26 launch was the 260th flight of the Long March rocket series. It was also the eighth orbital launch from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in 2017 and the 16th mission conducted by China this year.
Video courtesy of CCTV+
Tomasz Nowakowski
Tomasz Nowakowski is the owner of Astro Watch, one of the premier astronomy and science-related blogs on the internet. Nowakowski reached out to SpaceFlight Insider in an effort to have the two space-related websites collaborate. Nowakowski's generous offer was gratefully received with the two organizations now working to better relay important developments as they pertain to space exploration.
Long March 9 will be sending 50 tons at a time on it’s way to the Moon. Fairly soon. The U.S. better start getting out of LEO and focusing on a lunar return.