Satellites mark start of space network

Tuesday's launch marked the ninth mission of Kuaizhou 1A, making it the most used solid-fuel rocket in China, surpassing the Long March 11, a model built by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp that has made eight flights.

CASIC began to develop the Kuaizhou series in 2009 as a low-cost, quick-response product for the commercial space market.

The largest in the Kuaizhou fleet, Kuaizhou 11, is expected to make its debut flight at the Jiuquan center in coming months and will become China's largest and most powerful solid-propellant launch vehicle.

Kuaizhou 11 is 25 meters long, 2.2 meters in diameter and has a liftoff weight of 78 metric tons. It can place a 1-ton payload into a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 700 km, or a 1.5-ton payload into a low-Earth orbit, according to designers.