China's Long March 7A rocket puts satellite in orbit

The newest type in China's carrier rocket family - Long March 7A - made its first successful flight at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province early Friday morning, sending a technology demonstration satellite into space.

The 60.1-meter colossal rocket blasted off from a launch pad in the coastal launch center at 1:51 am, and soon deployed the New Technology Demonstrator 9 experimental satellite into orbit, according to a statement from China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, the nation's leading space contractor.

The mission marked the 362nd flight of the Long March rocket series and also the second by the Long March 7A. Its first flight failed in March 2020 due to malfunctions.

According to the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology in Beijing, the Long March 7A has a liftoff weight of 573 metric tons and a core-stage diameter of 3.35 meters. It is capable of placing a 7-ton spacecraft to geosynchronous transfer orbit.

A subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, the academy is the major rocket developer in the country.

The rocket is tasked with sending satellites to high-altitude orbits such as the geosynchronous transfer and inclined geosynchronous orbits. It can also be used to carry out missions to the moon, Mars or asteroids, designers said.

A lot of China's Beidou navigation satellites and communication satellites are traveling in the geosynchronous transfer orbit.

Research and development of the new rocket took 22 months since May 2018 and were based on the Long March 7, which is tasked with sending cargo spaceships to China's future space station.

Meng Gang, Long March 7A's project manager, said the service of Long March 7A will encourage and boost the development and deployment of large, heavy satellites.

Source: Xinhua News Agency

Related Links
China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp
Rocket Science News at Space-Travel.Com

Tweet

Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.

SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly

paypal only

SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once

credit card or paypal

Space launch from British soil one step closer
London, UK (SPX) Mar 05, 2021
In a giant leap in British spaceflight history, government publishes response to commercial spaceflight consultation. A giant leap in British spaceflight history is being made 5 March 2021 as the government publishes its commercial spaceflight consultation response, paving the way for space launches from UK soil. Over the past few months, the government has been inviting industry, stakeholders and the public to have their say on the rules that will govern our spaceflight programme - and the ... read more