China Launches Lijian-1 Y10 Rocket with Seven Satellites

On Tuesday, China launched the Lijian-1 Y10 carrier rocket, carrying seven satellites. The launch took place at 3:33 p.m. Beijing Time from a commercial aerospace innovation pilot zone located in northwest China. The rocket successfully placed the satellites into their intended orbits.

According to Hu Xiaowei, the rocket's chief commander, the Lijian-1 has now successfully delivered a total of 70 satellites into their designated orbits. The combined weight of the payloads exceeds 7 tonnes. The rocket is designed to address the global demand for diverse and high-density satellite launches. It is expected to be capable of launching over 50 satellites in a single mission.

Meng Xiangfu, the deputy chief commander of Lijian-1, stated that the rocket has improved its economies of scale through high-density launches and multi-satellite rideshare missions. This has resulted in a continuous decrease in launch costs. The launch cost per kilogram of payload has been reduced to below 10,000 U.S. dollars. The rocket's payload capacity for a 500-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit has reached 1.5 tonnes.

Among the seven satellites launched, one features an X-band synthetic aperture radar payload. This satellite is capable of high-quality in-orbit imaging and information extraction, with an imaging resolution exceeding 1 meter and a maximum observation width of over 300 kilometers. It is designed for wide-area observation scenarios, including polar and ocean regions.

Another satellite, Tianyan-26, is a lightweight and miniaturized commercial Earth remote sensing satellite that utilizes both visible light and infrared bands. The launch also included two ThumbSat satellites, which will be used to verify the platform's low-orbit communication capabilities and the transmission performance of payload imagery, supporting future international collaboration. The ThumbSat satellites are scheduled to carry out their in-orbit missions.