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Tomasz Nowakowski
June 27, 2018
The launch of the Xichang Satellite Launch Platform will take place on June 27, 2018 as of March 2. Photo: Xinhua
China launched a Long March 2C rocket carrying two designated technology demonstration satellites XJSW A and XJSW B Wednesday, June 27.
The mission took off at 3:30 GMT (23:30 EDT June 26) from Xichang Satellite Launch Center (XSLC) Launch Complex 3 in China's Sichuan Province.
The success of the mission was confirmed by the official Xinhua news agency about two hours after takeoff.
"China successfully launched satellites paired with new technology experiments on the Long March-2C rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwestern China on Wednesday morning. launched at 11:30, [local time] and entered their planned orbit, " Xinhua informed.
However, the Chinese media did not reveal the satellite parameters. Xinhua only revealed that the two spacecraft are designed to "connect the inter-satellite network and conduct new technological tests on Earth observation satellites".
Details of pre-launch preparations and the flight itself were kept secret. The exact orbit from which twin satellites must perform tests is also unknown.
Previous reports have only noted that China plans to launch a Yaogan 30 satellite trio at the top of a 2C Long March booster on June 27 from Xichang, however officials have apparently decided to send a payload different in the space. A new launch date for the Yaogan 30 triplet has not yet been announced.
The Long March 2C booster used for Wednesday's flight is a two-stage rocket developed by the Chinese Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT). It is mainly used to launch satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) or Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO). The 138-foot (42-meter) launcher is capable of carrying payloads up to 3.85 metric tons at LEO and has an SSO capacity of up to 1.4 tons. For some missions, an optional third step may be included.
Gunter's space page noted that for Wednesday's mission, the Long March 2C launcher was equipped with a modified fairing, since XJSW A and B did not fit the standard fairing.
The first flight of the 2C long-duration accelerator was conducted on September 9, 1982 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (JSLC). This mission delivered the recoverable satellite of Fanhui Shei Weixing in space.
Wednesday's launch marked the 278th flight of the Long March rocket series and the 18th orbital mission for China this year (2018).
UPDATE
It was reported that the first stage of the rocket, after falling from the second stage of the propeller fell on a city located in Niuchang City, part of Fuquan City in Guizhou Province by Andrew Jones with the GB TImes. A video of the explosion of the scene that hit the ground can be seen on the Chinese social media site Sina Weibo.
Long March 2C fuel consists of dissymmetric dimethylhydrazine fuel as well as nitrous oxide tetroxide oxidant. Both are toxic.
This is not the first time that one of the Chinese rockets has struck near towns or villages. It was reported that two of these incidents occurred in 2018 alone. Only one of the four launch sites of China, Wenchang, is located near the ocean. The other three, Jiuquan, Taiyuan and Xichang, are all located inland.
Video courtesy of GB Times
Tagged: China China National Space Administration Lead Long Stories March 2C Xichang Satellite Launch Center
Tomasz Nowakowski
Tomasz Nowakowski is the owner of Astro Watch, one of the leading blogs of astronomy and science on the Internet. Nowakowski contacted SpaceFlight Insider to collaborate on the two space-related websites. The generous offer of Nowakowski was greeted with gratitude by the two organizations that are now working to better relay important developments with regard to space exploration.
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