On January 19th at 16:24 UTC, China launched a Long March 3B carrying the Tiantong-1 03 satellite from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in China.

The Long March 3B has 3 stages and 4 side boosters on the first stage. This is a truly impressive looking rocket. We have a link to the launch video on our website.

This mission carried a Tiantong-1 communications satellite successfully to orbit. This is the 3rd satellite in this constellation, joining Tiantong-1 01, which was launched in August 2016, and Tiantong-1 02, which was launched on November 12th of last year.

The Tiantong-1 satellites are geostationary mobile communication satellites operated by China SatCom and are the country’s answer to the Inmarsat network. They provide stable satellite phone coverage in all weather conditions for China and surrounding areas. Reportedly, they carry an S-band mobile communications payload with a large unfurlable dish antenna, which you can see depicted in an artist’s rendering on our website. They are fairly heavy satellites, weighing in at about 5400 kilograms.

More Information

CASC press release