Two Chinese Kuaizhou-1A launches within six hours
The new colonial movement: China today successfully completed two separate Kuaizhou-1A launches, placing in orbit seven total smallsats and doing it within a space of only six hours.
China launched two orbital missions from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center within six hours of each other, orbiting a total of seven satellites. The launches, using mobile pads, saw two Kuaizhou-1A rockets heading into space on Saturday at 2:55 UTC and 8:52 UTC.
The first Kuaizhou-1A rocket, serial number Y2, orbited the Jilin-1 Gaofen-2B remote sensing satellite for the Jilin-1 constellation.
…Six hours after the first launch, and as was expected by the navigational warnings previously published, a second Kuaizhou-1A launch vehicle, serial number Y12, had already been displaced to the launch site, but from a different pad. Analysis of the images available from the second launch seems to indicate that launch took place from a location within the Launch Complex 16 usually used for the Long March-6 launches. Ignition came at 8:52UTC.
The three-stage launch vehicle orbited six satellites.
This achievement is a very big deal. China has demonstrated the ability to launch and then launch again quickly with this military-based mobile launch system. This not only enhances their commercial value, it tells us they have developed a military capability able to put payloads into orbit at almost a moment’s notice.
The leaders in the 2019 launch race:
29 China
19 Russia
12 SpaceX
7 Europe (Arianespace)
6 Rocket Lab
China now leads the U.S. 29 to 25 in the national rankings.
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The new colonial movement: China today successfully completed two separate Kuaizhou-1A launches, placing in orbit seven total smallsats and doing it within a space of only six hours.
China launched two orbital missions from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center within six hours of each other, orbiting a total of seven satellites. The launches, using mobile pads, saw two Kuaizhou-1A rockets heading into space on Saturday at 2:55 UTC and 8:52 UTC.
The first Kuaizhou-1A rocket, serial number Y2, orbited the Jilin-1 Gaofen-2B remote sensing satellite for the Jilin-1 constellation.
…Six hours after the first launch, and as was expected by the navigational warnings previously published, a second Kuaizhou-1A launch vehicle, serial number Y12, had already been displaced to the launch site, but from a different pad. Analysis of the images available from the second launch seems to indicate that launch took place from a location within the Launch Complex 16 usually used for the Long March-6 launches. Ignition came at 8:52UTC.
The three-stage launch vehicle orbited six satellites.
This achievement is a very big deal. China has demonstrated the ability to launch and then launch again quickly with this military-based mobile launch system. This not only enhances their commercial value, it tells us they have developed a military capability able to put payloads into orbit at almost a moment’s notice.
The leaders in the 2019 launch race:
29 China
19 Russia
12 SpaceX
7 Europe (Arianespace)
6 Rocket Lab
China now leads the U.S. 29 to 25 in the national rankings.
Please consider donating to Behind the Black, by giving either a one-time contribution or a regular subscription, as outlined in the tip jar below. Your support will allow me to continue covering science and culture as I have for the past twenty years, independent and free from any outside influence.
Regular readers can support Behind The Black with a contribution via paypal:
If Paypal doesn't work for you, you can support Behind The Black directly by sending your donation by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman, to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
And reload with another nuclear/chemical/biological warhead equipped missile quickly after launching a previous one. Good luck PAC, THAAD and Aegis as they run out of interceptors (US doctrine is to launch at least two against each incoming target)
And also challenging ASAT by being able to replace satellites quickly
Amazing what can be done when your core mission is actually putting stuff in space, and not just providing jobs for engineers with graduate degrees.
Col Beausabre
Actually that is a problem with those mobile launchers.
they do not reload in the field. The smaller launcher can be but something the size of those needs quite a bot more than just a crane and another rocket.
The reason they are mobile is to hide them before launch.
Granted they could make a thousand launchers and a thousand rockets for them and then launch a thousand at one time. But who couldn’t do that?
Just like back in the old cold war days. What do they gain vs what they lose if they launch them at all?
They are just looking for a reason top keep them.
440 MinuteMan 3’s, presently on alert, delivering up to 1,320 nuclear warheads launched instantly, should discourage most suicidal activities.
Kicking the Saudis out of our country and out of our schools would go a long way towards discouraging future suicide attacks.
They can pound sand.
Better yet, we should pound their
sand into glass for them.
Captain Emeritus–
Good stuff!
Minuteman III launch animation
https://youtu.be/S-V6MZlyCqE
2:22