China launches sixth batch of internet satellites

China launched a Long March 8A carrier rocket on Wednesday afternoon, sending a group of internet satellites into orbit, according to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp.

The rocket lifted off at 3:49 pm from the Hainan International Commercial Aerospace Launch Center, a coastal spaceport in Wenchang, Hainan province, the state-owned space contractor said in a news release. It soon placed the payloads — the sixth group of low-orbit satellites in China's State-owned internet network — into their preset orbit.

The satellites were developed by the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites in Shanghai, which is part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Sunday saw the launch of the fifth group of such satellites, which were carried into space by a Long March 6A rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Shanxi province.

Wednesday's mission marked China's 41st rocket launch this year and the 586th flight of the Long March rocket family, the backbone of the country's space transport fleet.

The Long March 8A was designed and built by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, a subsidiary of CASC based in Beijing. The rocket stands 50.5 meters tall, with a liftoff weight of 371 metric tons and a liftoff thrust of about 480 tons.

The model is mainly used for deploying satellites into sun-synchronous orbits and can carry payloads of up to 7 metric tons to an orbit about 700 kilometers above the Earth.

The Long March 8A made its maiden flight in February at the Wenchang Space Launch Center, a government-run facility near the commercial spaceport. It became the 18th operational member of the Long March family, a pillar of China's space program.