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.
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.
