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A Long March 6 carrier rocket carrying the satellite Tianping-3A 02 blasts off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in North China's Shanxi province, April 3, 2025
TAIYUAN -- China sent a new satellite into space on Thursday from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in North China's Shanxi province.
The satellite, Tianping-3A 02, was launched at 10:12 am (Beijing Time) aboard a Long March 6 rocket and entered its preset orbit.
The satellite will be primarily used for the calibration of ground-based radar equipment and radar cross section (RCS) measurement. It will support imaging experiments for ground-based optical equipment and monitoring tests of the low-orbit space environment, while also providing services for atmospheric space environment measurement and orbital prediction model correction.
The launch marks the 568th flight mission of the Long March rocket series and China’s 19th orbital launch of 2025.
China could be targeting 100 or more launches in 2025, driven by growing commercial activity, megaconstellation projects, and new launcher development. A number of new, medium-lift and potentially reusable rockets are targeting debut flights this year.
Highlight missions will include the Shenzhou-20 and 21 human spaceflight missions to Tiangong Space Station. The Tianwen-2 near-Earth asteroid sample return mission is expected to launch from Xichang on a Long March 3B rocket around May.
