China has just set a new national record for the number of satellites launched by a single rocket with a launch at 12:30 PM on June 15 (Hanoi time).
The Long March 2D rocket lifted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in northern China on June 15, deploying 41 satellites into orbit. (Video: CGST).
The Long March 2D rocket launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in northern China. As the Long March 2D ascended, thermal insulation panels could be seen falling away from the rocket, and diamond shock waves (the formation of shock wave patterns in the supersonic exhaust flow of aerospace propulsion systems) appeared in the purple exhaust plume.
A total of 41 small satellites were placed into orbit, including 30 Jilin-1 GF06A0 satellites, 8 Jilin-1 GF03D satellites, one HEGS-1 satellite, and two Jilin-1 PT02A satellites for the Chinese commercial remote sensing satellite company Changguang Satellite (CGST).
A total of 41 small satellites were launched into orbit.
This launch broke the previous record for the number of satellites launched in a single mission by China, which was set at 26 just a few days earlier by the Lijian 1 rocket from the commercial company CAS Space. However, this number still falls far short of the world record of 143 satellites established by SpaceX’s Transporter-1 mission in January 2021.
The satellites launched on June 15 primarily supplement the commercial remote sensing system Jilin-1 of CGST. CGST aims to place more than 300 satellites into orbit by 2025, more than doubling its previous plan of 138 Jilin-1 satellites.
The Long March 2D rocket is 41 meters tall and can carry a payload of 1,300 kg to a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 700 km. The mission on June 15 marked the 25th launch with Jilin-1 satellites. This was the 24th launch for China since the beginning of the year, and the country plans to launch over 200 vehicles in 2023.
