Chinese launch of new satellites, including a Pakistani remote sensing satellite, as part of China’s efforts to expand space communications and create a commercial satellite network competing with Starlink.
China launched a rocket carrying 3 satellites today, Sunday, according to the Chinese news agency Xinhua. The agency stated that the launch took place from a “commercial space innovation pilot zone in northwestern China.”
According to the agency, the rocket successfully placed the satellites into their designated orbits. The three satellites include the Pakistani remote sensing satellite “PakRS 2”, in addition to the two satellites “Ersat-3” and “Ersat-4”.
This mission is the ninth flight of the carrier rocket “Lijian-1”, according to the agency.
Last Friday, China announced the launch of 18 communications satellites from northern Shanxi Province, using a “Long March 6A” rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. The state-run “China Daily” newspaper reported that the satellites successfully reached their planned orbital positions.
The newspaper pointed out that these satellites are “part of the Space Cell group, a Chinese commercial low-orbit satellite constellation, aimed at forming a network of satellites to provide global, high-speed, secure and reliable broadband internet services for users around the world. This group is planned to include up to more than 10,000 satellites orbiting in low altitudes before the end of 2030.”
According to the project plan, 648 satellites will be deployed in orbit by the end of 2025 to form the first version of the “Space Cell Constellation” network, which observers see as “a Chinese response competing with the global internet network Starlink”.
source: 961 today
