China launches classified satellite
China today successfully launched a classified Earth observation satellite to do “national land surveys, environmental management and other fields,” its Long March 4B rocket lifting off from its Jiuquan spaceport in northwest China.
No word on where the rocket’s lower stages, which use very toxic hypergolic fuels, crashed inside China.
The leaders in the 2025 launch race:
65 SpaceX
32 China
6 Rocket Lab
6 Russia
SpaceX still leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 65 to 51.
China today successfully launched a classified Earth observation satellite to do “national land surveys, environmental management and other fields,” its Long March 4B rocket lifting off from its Jiuquan spaceport in northwest China.
No word on where the rocket’s lower stages, which use very toxic hypergolic fuels, crashed inside China.
The leaders in the 2025 launch race:
65 SpaceX
32 China
6 Rocket Lab
6 Russia
SpaceX still leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 65 to 51.