JIUQUAN, China -- A Chinese Long March 1 launch vehicle lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on January 19, 2018 at 12:12 p.m. Beijing Time (4:12 a.m. UTC; January 18 at 11:12 p.m. EST). The launch vehicle carried two commercial Jilin remote sensing satellites and four other small satellites.
The two Jilin satellites, designed Jilin-1 Video 07 and Jilin-1 Video 08, were developed by Chang Guang Satellite Technology Col. Ltd. They will join eight previous Jilin satellites launched aboard three missions in October 2015, January 2017, and November 2017. The network of satellites provides remote sensing data to government and commercial customers.
This was the fourth launch for China so far in 2018, as Beijing maintains its fast launch pace as it attempts to conduct 40 launches this year. The Long March 11 is a relatively new launch vehicle to the Long March stable. The first Long March 11 lifted off in September 2015. It is a lightweight launch vehicle designed to carry small satellites and will compete with Rocket Lab's Electron, Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne as well as domestic competitors from LandSpace and Expace.
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