Posted: Sun, Mar 16, 2025, 3:13 PM ET (1913 GMT)
China launched a set of megaconstellation satellites Tuesday. A Long March 8 rocket lifted off at 12:38 pm EDT (1638 GMT) frmom the Hainan Commercial Launch Site near Wenchang on the island of Hainan, placing 18 of the Qianfan or "Thousand Sails" satellites into orbit for Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST), also known as Spacesail. The launch was the first for Spacesail using the Long March 8. All four previous Thousand Sails missions, totalling 72 satellites, used the Long March 6A rocket. The Long March 8 launch was the inaugural use of the spaceport's launch pad 1, a facility designed specifically for the rocket.

Related Links:

•  SpaceNews article
•  Xinhua article