China launches Yunhai satellite atop of the fifth Long March 6A [Long March 6A Y3]

The fifth Long March 6A launched Yunhai-3 02 into orbit.

The Long March 6A Y3 vehicle during first-stage flight.

China launched what was thought to be a Long March 6C in the Western world but later turned out to be a Long March 6A. The launch occurred from Launch Complex 9A at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, in northern China. Liftoff was at 10:51 pm Universal Coordinated Time on the 26th of March, which was 06:51 am China Standard Time on the 27th.

Spaceflight observers in the Western world, including me, were initially led to believe that the debut flight of the Long March 6C was imminent due to released notices’ to mariners and keep-out zones. This would turn out to be incorrect upon news from official sources after the launch.

Riding atop the Long March 6A Y3 rocket is currently believed to be a Yunhai-3 02 satellite. The satellite is reportedly healthy and in its desired orbit with the launch mission being considered a success. Yunhai-3 02 is believed to be in a sun-synchronus orbit of Earth at the time of writing.

The remainder of this article is available on Cosmic Nxws.