China ends month-long launch hiatus with separate Guowang and Shiyan-30 satellite missions

HELSINKI — China resumed orbital launch activity Thursday with a pair of missions lifting off from Hainan and Xichang spaceports, launching satellite internet and technology test satellites.

The country had not conducted a launch since Feb. 12, when a Jielong-3 solid rocket sea launch carried the PRSC-EO2 remote sensing satellite and other passengers to orbit, ahead of a break for the Chinese New Year holiday. China's annual political sessions in Beijing and a failure of a Long March 3B launch in January may also have contributed to the extended pause in launch activity.

The resumption came on Thursday, with a Long March 8A lifting off from Hainan commercial launch center at 2:48 p.m. Eastern, March 12 (1948 UTC). The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) announced launch success around two hours after liftoff, officially revealing the mission to be carrying the 20th group of satellites for the national Guowang low Earth orbit satellite internet megaconstellation.