VIDEO: China Launches Rocket Carrying Three Satellites into Space for the First Time

The Taiyuan Spaceport Launch Center has successfully launched the Chinese Gravity-1 commercial heavy-lift rocket for the first time. This was reported by the 'China Astronautics' newspaper ('Zhongguo Hantianbao'). The information is provided by TASS.

According to a statement published on the WeChat social media platform, the Yunyao-1 deployment of three satellites was carried out at 13:30 Beijing time (09:30 Yerevan time). The launch utilized the Yellow Sea platform, located in waters not far from Haiyang city in Shandong province.

On this occasion, China has sent into orbit the 18th, 19th, and 20th spacecraft of the Yunyao constellation, which is expected to expand to a total of 90 satellites. These satellites are designed to monitor weather conditions and changes in the Earth's atmosphere.

The three-stage Gravity-1 rocket has a diameter of 4.2 meters, a length of about 30 meters, and is capable of carrying up to 6.5 tons of payload (4.2 tons to a solar-synchronous orbit) to low Earth orbit. Its speed can reach up to 1000 km/h. According to the developers, this is the most powerful solid-fuel rocket in the world.

Beijing is actively developing its national space program, focusing on weather, communications, and navigation satellites, as well as technologies intended for lunar exploration. Chinese experts are also working on projects for asteroid and Mars exploration. Furthermore, the Chinese space station is operational and open to international collaboration. In 2023, China carried out 67 launches.