China launches new low Earth orbit satellites

China launched a new group of low Earth orbit satellites on Tuesday from a commercial spacecraft launch site in the southern island province of Hainan.

A Long March-8A rocket, carrying the 10th group of satellites for forming an internet constellation, blasted off at 3:08 a.m. It has sent the satellites into the preset orbit.

Developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, the carrier rocket is designed to meet the launch requirements for large-scale constellation deployments in medium- and low-Earth orbits.

Standing 50.5 meters tall with a liftoff weight of 371 tonnes, it can carry payloads of up to 7 tonnes into a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 700 kilometers.

Tuesday's launch marked the third flight mission this year, demonstrating that the Long March-8A rocket has achieved high-density launch capability and can undertake multiple tasks in parallel.