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Aug. 17, 2019
Smart Dragon-1 lift off
Smart Dragon-1 launch vehicle launched three satellites from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Gansu Province, northwest China, on 17 August 2019, at 04:11 UTC (12:11 local time).
Smart Dragon-1 (SD-1, also known as Lightning Dragon No.1, Jielong-1, 捷龙一号) is a new solid-propellant rocket developed by the China Rocket Co. Ltd. affiliated to the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALVT). According to official sources, SD-1 has a total length of 19.5 meters, a diameter of 1.2 meter, a takeoff weight of about 23.1 tonnes and is capable of sending 200 kg payloads to a Sun-synchronous orbit with at an altitude of 500 km.
Smart Dragon-1's first launch (捷龙一号, Jielong-1)
Four rocket motors fired in succession as the Jielong 1 booster flew south from Jiuquan. CALT said the Jielong 1 rocket placed its three satellite payloads into orbit, and Chinese officials hailed the mission as a success.
The Jielong 1 carried three satellites on Saturday’s launch.
Smart Dragon-1 (捷龙一号, Jielong-1)
One of the microsatellites, owned by a Beijing-based company named Qiansheng Exploration Technology Co. Ltd., weighed around 140 pounds (65 kilograms) at the time of launch. The spacecraft hosts an Earth-imaging instrument with a resolution of less than 6.6 feet (2 meters), could pave the way for a fleet of Earth-observing satellites from Qiansheng.
Xingshidai 5 satellite
A small Earth observation satellite named Xingshidai 5, owned by Chengdu Guoxing Aerospace Technology Co. Ltd., was also aboard the Jielong 1 rocket Saturday. An experimental data relay satellite named Tianqi 2, developed by Guodian Gaoke in Beijing, was the third payload on Saturday’s launch.
Related links:
China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALVT): http://calt.spacechina.com/n840/index.html
China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC): http://english.spacechina.com/n16421/index.html
Images, Video, Text, Credits: CALVT/CASC/ China Central Television (CCTV)/SciNews/News.cn/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.
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