Posted: Sun, May 17, 2020, 11:04 AM ET (1504 GMT)
China launched a pair of smallsats Monday that will be a part of an internet of things constellation. A Kuhaizhou-1A small launch vehicle lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 9:16 p.m. Eastern Monday night and placed the first two Xingyun-2 satellites into orbit. The satellites carry L-band payloads to provide communications services for devices, and are the beginning of a constellation expected to reach 80 satellites by 2023. One of the satellites was named Wuhan, after the Chinese city where the coronavirus pandemic started.

Related Links:

•  Spaceflight Now article
•  NASASpaceFlight.com article
•  Xinhua article