HELSINKI — China launched a new Yaogan reconnaissance satellite late Sunday, following India’s launch of its highest mass communications satellite to date.
A Long March 7A lifted off at 10:47 p.m. Eastern, Nov. 2 (0347 UTC, Nov. 3) from Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on the southern island province of Hainan, rising into a grey sky. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) announced launch success, revealing the previously undisclosed payload to be the Yaogan-46 satellite.
The satellite is expected to have entered geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) and, if confirmed, will later maneuver into the geostationary belt, 35,786 kilometers above the equator. Orbital data had not been released at the time of reporting.
Update Nov. 4: U.S. Space Force cataloged the satellite in a 2,548 by 7,562 km orbit with an inclination of 20 degrees, with the satellite likely to circularize its orbit, similar to Yaogan-45.
