Chinese Zhongxing-1E Spacecraft Launches Military Communications Satellite

On Tuesday, a Long March 7A rocket successfully launched the Zhongxing-1E satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit.

The Chinese rocket launched from the Wenchang spaceport on the island of Hainan on Tuesday at 9:18 a.m. EDT.

Forty minutes later, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC), the nation's primary space contractor, declared the launch a success while verifying the previously unknown cargo.

According to Chinese official media, Zhongxing-1E (ChinaSat-1E) offers "high-quality phone, data, radio, and television transmission services."

China Launches Communications Sattelite Through Zhongxing-1 Satellites

The China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) built Zhongxing-1E. China hasn't stated anything about the spacecraft other than categorically referring to it as a communications satellite.

"The vague description of the satellite matches statements for earlier Zhongxing-1 series satellites," Andrew Jones reported for Space News.

The satellite series appears to cater to military clients based on the little information and photographs available.

According to Jones, the Zhongxing-1D satellite, the latest in the series, was launched in November 2021 from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China on board a Long March 3B rocket.

"The switch of launcher and spaceport for the Zhongxing-1E launch, along with wording in a CAST press release.

Satellites are flown to Xichang, but the satellite was also transported by sea from Tianjin to Wenchang.

Long March 3 vs. March 7A Specs

He pointed out that the Long March 3 is far less potent than the Long March 7A, which is 197 feet (60 meters) tall. In contrast to the fact that satellites are flown to Xichang, the satellite was also delivered by sea from Tianjin to Wenchang.

However, Jones noted that it's also plausible that China is only switching from the Long March 3B to the 7A for GTO launches. The 3B debuted in 1996, but the 7A's first successful flight lasted until last year. It is also less powerful than the 7A and older.

Not just China is accelerating the pace of launches this year. In 2022, SpaceX launched 41 orbital flights, most of which were used to expand their massive Starlink broadband network.

China Launches Its First Space Laboratory Module Tiangong-1 — JIUQUAN, CHINA - SEPTEMBER 29: A Long March 2F rocket carrying the country's first space laboratory module Tiangong-1 lifts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on September 29, 2011 in Jiuquan, Gansu province of China. The unmanned Tiangong-1 will stay in orbit for two years and dock with China's Shenzhou-8, -9 and -10 spacecraft with the eventual goal of establishing a manned Chinese space station around 2020. Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

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How Long March 3 Works

The bulk of the stages of the Long March 3 are propelled by hypergolic propellants, namely nitrogen tetroxide (N2O4) and unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH), both of which are hazardous yet offer simple combustion. Some Chinese launch pads are located far inland; as a result, spent stages with harmful gases may fall close to populated regions, drawing condemnation from other countries.

The boosters are released at about T+ 2 minutes, 8 seconds from the first stage, according to the CZ-3B GTO mission's typical flight schedule. Before the second stage separates, the first stage and its four YF-21 engines, which use the same hypergolic fuels, continue to fire for two minutes and 25 seconds.

The second hypergolic stage starts up its lone YF-22E main engine and runs it until T+ 5 minutes and 26 seconds before shutting it down along with the stage's YF-23 Vernier engine. A fairing separation takes place approximately three and a half minutes into the flight.

The third stage, the sole cryogenic stage of the vehicle, fires its two liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen-fueled YF-75 engines after the second stage shuts down and separates. The duration of this stage's burn is four minutes and 44 seconds, and it does so to attain near-orbital conditions.

After a coast phase, around T+ 21 minutes, a second burn to boost the perigee is started. This 179-second fire accomplishes an orbital insertion and dramatically boosts the apogee to the specifications required for a geostationary transfer orbit.

At around T+ 25 minutes, the spacecraft separates from the third stage. China has increased its lead in the number of orbital launches globally this year, with this launch being the fourth in only one week.