China Launches Its First Internet Satellite In High Orbit

China launched the first satellite in a new series last week to offer internet services to China and the surrounding areas.

The Long March 3B/G rocket took up on February 29 at 8:03 a.m. Eastern (1303 UTC) from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China.

Shortly after takeoff, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC) declared the launch successful. 

China launches first high orbit Internet satellite

According to CASC's announcement, High orbit satellite internet-01 (Weixing Hulianwan Gaogui-01) was the previously unknown payload.

A Long March 3B/G launch was scheduled to depart from Xichang on February 29, as stated by Aerospace closure notices. 

This suggests that the payload was probably intended for geosynchronous transfer orbit. 

Not to be confused with high Earth orbit (HEO), high orbit in Chinese also refers to orbits above low Earth orbit.

The satellite's details were not disclosed in the first official Chinese media report on the launch. 

All that CASC disclosed about the satellite was that it was created by the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), a leading spacecraft manufacturer.

Read more: Apple Examined Dynamic Island and Notch Designs for iPhones