BEIJING: Pakistan will receive the services of China’s Long March -3B thatwas put into communication satellite into orbit on Sunday.
The Long March carrier rockets will also help provide launch services forcountries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative.
The services have been extended from launching satellites to theconstruction of ground facilities, this was announced by Wu Yansheng, boardchairman of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC).
According to the announcement, with a Long March-3B rocket putting a newcommunication satellite into orbit, China’s Long March carrier rocketseries has completed 300 launches, having sent more than 500 spacecraftinto space since 1970. This is a milestone for China’s space industrydevelopment.
The Long March carrier rocket series, developed by CASC, is responsible forabout 96.4 percent of all the launch missions in China.
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It took 37 years for the Long March rockets to complete the first 100launches, 7.5 years to complete the second 100 launches, and only aboutfour years to accomplish the final 100, with the average number of launchesper year increasing from 2.7 to 13.3 and then to 23.5.
“Intensive launches have become normal in China, indicating the rapiddevelopment of the space industry, the progress of science and technologyand the enhancement of national strength,” said Shang Zhi, director of theSpace Department of the CASC.
China joined the space club on April 24, 1970, when the Long March-1carrier rocket launched the country’s first satellite, Dongfanghong-1, intoorbit. At that time, the carrying capacity of the Long March rocket wasonly 300 kg.
