A Long March-4C carrier rocket carrying the twin satellites, Tianhui-6 A and Tianhui-6 B, blasts off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in northern China's Shanxi Province on March 10, 2023. (Photo by Zheng Bin/Xinhua)
BEIJING, March 10 (Xinhua) -- The China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) has developed and successfully launched a total of 400 spacecraft with its Tianhui-6 twin satellites sent into space on Friday morning.
The two satellites were launched onboard a Long March-4C carrier rocket and will be used for geographic mapping, land resource survey, and scientific experiments, among others.
The CAST, affiliated with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), has witnessed the launch of its 400th spacecraft. It is also the developer of China's first satellite Dongfanghong-1.
The CASC plans to launch more than 200 spacecraft in about 60 space missions in 2023 and will see the 500th flight mission of the Long March carrier rocket series this year.
Three flight missions, namely the launches of the Tianzhou-6 cargo craft, the Shenzhou-16 and Shenzhou-17 manned spaceships, will take place within the year to improve the country's capability of entering, using, and exploring space, said the CASC.
It added that three backup satellites of the BeiDou-3 Navigation Satellite System will be sent into space this year. ■
