HELSINKI — China conducted a pair of launches Sunday, sending a second Yaogan-50 satellite into a highly retrograde orbit and completing a Kuaizhou-11 solid rocket rideshare mission.
The country is once again accelerating its orbital launch activities following a near month-long hiatus for the Chinese New Year holidays and annual political sessions in Beijing, with the launches being the third and fourth since March 12.
A Long March 6A rocket lifted off at 8:22 a.m. Eastern (1322 UTC) March 15 from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China. Airspace closure notices indicated the launch would be inserting a satellite into a highly retrograde orbit.
