China launches military surveillance satellite
China today successfully launched a military surveillance satellite using its Long March 2D rocket, designed to put smaller payloads in low Earth orbit.
I think the 2D would compare nicely with India’s PSLV rocket.
The leaders in the 2018 launch standings:
8 China
5 SpaceX
3 Japan
3 ULA
2 Russia
2 Europe
The U.S. and China are presently tied at 8. Note also that I am now counting Rocket Lab as a New Zealand rocket, not an American one.
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China today successfully launched a military surveillance satellite using its Long March 2D rocket, designed to put smaller payloads in low Earth orbit.
I think the 2D would compare nicely with India’s PSLV rocket.
The leaders in the 2018 launch standings:
8 China
5 SpaceX
3 Japan
3 ULA
2 Russia
2 Europe
The U.S. and China are presently tied at 8. Note also that I am now counting Rocket Lab as a New Zealand rocket, not an American one.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Thanks for keeping track of the number of launches.
But is it really fair to count this Chinese launch of only 2000 pounds or so to count the same as a Falcon 9 that can put 50,000 pounds in LEO?
It would be interesting to keep track of the total pounds sent into orbit by each launch entity. I think it might tell a different story than the total number of launches.
Terry: One of my regular readers, LocalFluff, actually started to compile a payload count. I am still hoping he will keep it going.
At the moment however I think actual launches is still a good benchmark. Getting a lot of rockets launched on a regular basis has so far been a challenge for everyone since the beginning of the space age. Soviet Russia managed it for a while, but they depended on a command economy that eventually went bankrupt. No one else till now has come close. I think this year’s count will show us that we are getting there.