Yaogan 40 Group 04

Where it was visible

Daytime launch: visible as an exhaust trail near the pad.

None of the major cities we track had a good view; it's visible mainly near the pad.

Estimates from a typical ascent toward the likely orbit. Real trajectories, cloud and haze vary; the farther away, the lower and shorter the view.

Mission

3 Chinese reconnaissance satellites of unknown purposes, officially reported as for "Electromagnetic environment probing".

Launch time (UTC)

Sep 24, 08:46 UTC

Precision

Minute

Window

Sep 24, 08:38 UTC – Sep 24, 09:04 UTC

Orbit

PO

Mission type

Government/Top Secret

Pad

Launch Complex 9A

Rocket · Long March 6A

The Long March 6A is a Chinese launch vehicle of the Long March family, which was developed by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) and the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST). The vehicle is a further development of the Long March 6, with 2 YF-100 engines on the first stage as opposed to 1 on the Long March 6, augmented by 4 solid rocket boosters. The Long March 6A is China's first rocket with solid rocket boosters. The maiden launch of the Long March 6A took place 29 March 2022, successfully reaching orbit. It was also the first launch from the newly built launch complex 9A in Taiyuan.

Height

50 m

Diameter

3.35 m

Liftoff mass

530 t

Liftoff thrust

7,230 kN

Track record

27 / 27 successful

Success streak

27

First flight

2022-03-29

Reusable

No