China launched a Kuaizhou 1A carrier rocket on Thursday morning at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the country's northwestern desert, placing four weather satellites in orbit, according to China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp.
The State-owned company said in a news release the solid-propellant rocket blasted off at 11:20 am from its launch vehicle and put the Tianmu 07, 08, 09 and 10 meteorological satellites into their preset orbit. The mission marked the 21st flight of the Kuaizhou 1A model and its third launch this year.
Developed by CASIC, the four satellites are tasked with obtaining atmospheric data.
At present, 10 Tianmu-series satellites have been launched by Kuaizhou 1A rockets, and there will be more deployed in the near future. Upon the completion of their network, the space-based system will be used to make integrated, full-dimensional surveys of oceans and the atmosphere.
Built by China Space Sanjiang Group in Hubei province, a CASIC subsidiary, the 20-meter Kuaizhou 1A rocket has a liftoff weight of about 30 metric tons. It is capable of sending a maximum 200-kilogram payload into a sun-synchronous orbit, or a 300 kg payload into low-Earth orbit.
The Kuaizhou 1A and Kuaizhou 11, a larger type, are the most used solid-propellant rockets in China. They boast good reliability, high precision, convenient pre-launch preparation and low costs, designers have said.