HELSINKI — China launched a set of satellites likely intended to test inter-satellite laser links early Thursday as the country moves ahead with major constellation projects.
A Long March 2D rocket topped with a Yuanzheng-3 restartable upper stage lifted off at 2:17 a.m. Eastern (0717 UTC) Dec. 12 from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The rocket shed Insulation tiles as the rocket climbed into blue skies above the spaceport, propelled by a hypergolic propellant mix.
The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) confirmed launch success hours after liftoff, once the YZ-3 upper stage had released all payloads into preset orbits via a series of burns.
CASC, the country’s main space contractor and state-owned defense giant, revealed the payloads to be five satellites forming the “high-speed laser Diamond Constellation test system.”
While CASC did not elaborate on the satellites’ specifications, their designation suggests a focus on testing inter-satellite laser communication links.
U.S. space domain awareness tracked five payloads associated with the launch in three distinct orbits. One satellite is in a 988 x 1,160-kilometer-altitude orbit, another in a 791 x 812-km orbit and the final three in roughly 975 x 990-km orbits. All orbits are inclined by 59.9 degrees.
Inter-satellite laser link capabilities would be highly applicable to China’s megaconstellation projects, the national Guowang constellation, and the Shanghai-backed Qianfan/Thousand sails constellation. Inter-satellite laser links could mitigate China’s limited global ground station coverage — an issue that is apparent in its reliance on onboard space situational awareness capabilities.
Changguang Satellite, a commercial remote sensing spinoff from the China Academy of Sciences, demonstrated space-to-ground laser links in 2023.
The launch was the fourth use of the YZ-3 upper stage, designed for use with the Long March 2D. The rocket was provided by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST) under CASC.
A Yuanzheng-1A upper stage suffered a failure earlier this year on a Long March 2C rocket launch of the DRO-A and DRO-B lunar satellites. The satellites however used onboard propulsion to reach their intended lunar distant retrograde orbits months later.
The last failure of a Long March rocket occurred in 2020, more than 200 launches ago, when a commercial Indonesian communications satellite was lost due to an anomaly with a Long March 3B third stage.
Thursday’s launch was China’s 63rd orbital launch attempt of 2024. The country could surpass its national record of 67 attempts set last year with a series of Long March and potential commercial solid rocket launches scheduled for mid and late December.
A Long March 5B rocket appears set to launch what could be the first Guowang megaconstellation satellites from Wenchang Dec. 16. A Long March 8 rocket could also launch from the new Hainan commercial space launch center. The new spaceport hosted its inaugural launch Nov. 30 with what was also the debut flight of the Long March 12 — a first Chinese single-stick medium-lift launch vehicle, developed by SAST.