A NEW Chinese rocket took off on its debut mission, marking a major step in Beijing’s effort to catch up with Elon Musk’s Starlink.
The first Long March 8A rocket launched from the Wenchang Space Launch Site in Hainan, the island province in the South China Sea, at 5.30 pm local time, state media reported.
The inaugural flight transported a group of low-Earth orbit satellites to space, according to state media.
“In the near future, the Long March 8A will be used to deploy large numbers of satellites for China’s massive space-based Internet networks,” the official China Daily newspaper reported, citing Song Zhengyu, a senior rocket scientist at the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology.
“China now has multiple Internet satellite networks under construction, but keeps low-key about those projects,” the China Daily added.
Low-Earth orbit, or LEO, is the area in space where SpaceX has sent more than 7,000 of its Starlink satellites.
Other companies focusing on LEO include Amazon.com, which expects to initiate service of a satellite network called Project Kuiper later this year.
Compared with SpaceX, China has been slow in building LEO constellations. The country has plans to catch up with networks such as Spacesail, which last year signed an agreement with a Brazilian partner to launch service in the country.
Spacesail reached another agreement, with Malaysian satellite operator Measat Global, on Feb 6. BLOOMBERG
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