PRESTON, United Kingdom — China successfully launched the first batch of 18 satellites Tuesday for the Thousand Sails low Earth orbit communications megaconstellation.
A Long March 6A rocket lifted off from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, north China, at 2:42 a.m. Eastern (0642 UTC) Aug. 6. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) announced launch success just over two hours later.
The Long March 6A upper stage deployed 18 flat panel Qianfan (“Thousand Sails”) satellites into polar orbit for Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST).
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