China's first gold medal rocket carries out constellation satellite launch missionAt 09:09 Beijing time on October 23, 2024, at the No. 3 site of the Xichang Launch Center in Liangshan Prefecture, southwest Sichuan, the "Long March 2C" carrier rocket carrying the "Remote Sensing No. 43" 03 group of three satellites was launched into space, sending multiple satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO).
To meet the needs of multi-satellite launches, this mission features an extended central load-bearing cylinder, allowing satellites to be side-mounted, thus improving the payload fairing's space utilization. For this mission, the Long March 2C rocket, for the first time at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, used a brand-new unified ground measurement, launch, and control system. This new system significantly reduces the number of equipment sets and the area occupied, while offering a higher degree of standardization.
Three satellites in one launch! Long March 2C rocket successfully launches Remote Sensing Satellite No. 43 03Before the end of this year, the Long March 2C rocket will carry out multiple launch missions. Faced with high-density launches, diversified mission requirements and launch site switching, the model team will strengthen resource coordination, strictly control quality, prevent risks, and ensure the successful completion of subsequent launch missions.
CALT confirms my guess that there were three satellites on last night's CZ-2C launch http://calt.com/n689/c35665/content.html
And Space Force confirm my guess on the orbit, two objects now cataloged in 484 x 507 km x 35.0 deg orbit; expecting two more objects to be cataloged eventually
