2nd space mission of 2025 launched

China launched a Smart Dragon 3 carrier rocket on Monday morning off the coast of Haiyang in Shandong province, placing 10 satellites in space.

China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, maker of the Smart Dragon 3 series, said in a news release after the liftoff that the rocket blasted off at 11 am from a launch service ship and soon deployed the satellites into their preset positions in a low-Earth orbit about 650 kilometers above the ground, marking the rocket model's fifth sea-based launch.

The Smart Dragon 3 is 31 meters tall, has a diameter of 2.65 meters and can carry a liftoff weight of 140 metric tons. It is mainly propelled by a high-performance, solid-propellant engine, which holds 71 tons of propellant that creates a thrust of 200 tons.

The rocket is capable of sending multiple satellites with a combined weight of 1.5 tons to a typical sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 500 kilometers.

The Smart Dragon 3 made its maiden flight in December 2022 from a ship in the Yellow Sea, placing 14 satellites into orbit.

Its second mission took place in December 2023 off the coast of Yangjiang in Guangdong province, becoming the first sea-based rocket to launch from the South China Sea. The third also happened off the Yangjiang coast and placed nine satellites in space. The fourth occurred in September off the coast of Haiyang and deployed eight satellites.

China has performed 15 sea-based launches, using four types of rockets: the Long March 11, the Smart Dragon 3, the Ceres 1 and the Gravity 1.

Monday's launch was China's second space mission this year.

zhaolei@chinadaily.com.cn