China successfully launched 11 satellites into orbit on Saturday morning aboard a Smart Dragon-3 (SD-3) rocket from the coast of Shandong Province, further expanding the Geely-04 satellite constellation.
The rocket lifted off from the sea near Rizhao at 12:31 a.m. Beijing Time in an offshore mission conducted by the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre. This marks the sixth mission for the SD-3, a 31-meter-long, 140-tonne rocket belonging to China’s Dragon series, developed to meet the surging demand for commercial low-orbit satellite launches.
Unlike the Long March rockets, which serve as China’s primary space launch vehicles, the Dragon series is optimised for rapid-response and high-efficiency deployment of small satellites. Liu Wei, deputy chief designer of the SD-3, said the mission demonstrated the rocket’s capability to meet evolving market needs with improved performance.
The satellites, developed by Geespace, a subsidiary of Geely Holding Group, will support Internet of Things (IoT) applications, inter-satellite communication, marine fisheries, low-altitude transport, emergency response, and Earth observation for environmental monitoring.
Before this launch, Geespace had placed 30 satellites in a 600-kilometre orbit. With the latest addition, the constellation now has 41 satellites, and the number is expected to reach 64 within two months. Once fully deployed, the network will provide global commercial IoT communication services.
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