China launches Lijian-1 rocket carrying 5 satellites into orbit

The rocket lifted off at 7.33 am Beijing time (2333GMT Thursday) from the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Pilot Zone in northwest China’s Gansu province, according to state-run news agency Xinhua.

All five satellites were successfully placed into their designated orbits, Xinhua said, without immediately disclosing the identities or missions of the spacecraft.

The mission marked the 15th flight of the Lijian-1 carrier rocket.

The Lijian-1, also known as Kinetica-1, is a solid-fuel commercial launch vehicle developed by CAS Space. It has become one of China’s key commercial rockets for deploying small- and medium-sized satellite payloads into orbit.

The launch came as China continues to expand its commercial space sector alongside its national space program, increasing the frequency of satellite launches supporting communications, Earth observation and scientific research.

The mission followed another successful Chinese commercial launch earlier this week, when a Gravity-1 rocket lifted off from a sea-based platform off Shanghai and carried nine satellites into orbit.