Now an update on the rocket launches that went up since last week.

There was only one, from China. However, it’s worth noting as it was only the fourth Long March 7A. The rocket sent up a satellite called Chinasat 1E from Wenchang, China’s island spaceport. The lower latitude position gives rockets heading East more performance thanks to the Earth’s rotation; and dropped stages land in the ocean, not on land. Both of these qualities are useful.

Chinasat is a series of government-owned communications satellites, usually launched by the pretty but deadly hypergolic propelled Long March 3B series of rockets. China is continuing to transition its routine launches over to its new generation of rockets, however, and this was the first Chinasat to be launched on Long March 7A. The 7A adds the liquid hydrogen-powered third stage of the 3B to the kerosene/oxygen first and second stages of the Long March 7. The Long March 7 will replace several Long March rockets including the 2F and 3B.

According to an article on the manufacturer’s social media, putting the payload on this new rocket was quite a bit of work, made even more complicated by working around pandemic restrictions. A link to the article in its original Chinese will be in the show notes for this episode.

Chinasat 1E will be used to deliver television, voice, and radio to users on the ground.

More Information

China launches Zhongxing-1E satellite (Xinhua)

Launch video