China continued its stream of rocket launches on Friday (Nov. 26) by lofting a new interactions satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit. A Long March 3B launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China at 11:40 a.m. EST Friday (1640 GMT, or 12:40 a.m. Nov. 27 regional time). Orange and red exhaust briefly illuminated the launch pad and surrounding hills as the rocket rose from the pad and into the night sky.The rocket brought the ChinaSat 1D (Zhongxing 1D) interactions satellite into orbit. The satellite was developed under the China Academy of Space Technology, the countrys primary, state-owned spacecraft maker. Video: Blastoff! China releases Zhongxing-1D interactions satelliteRelated: The newest news about Chinas space programA Chinese Long March 3B rocket introduces the military space particles mitigation satellite Shijian-21from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center on Oct. 24, 2021. (Image credit: CASC)No info about the satellites capabilities was launched, recommending that it might a minimum of partially serve military consumers. State media China Daily mentions that the satellite will be entrusted with transferring telephone, internet, radio and tv signals, while NASA Spaceflight writes that the ChinaSat 1 series satellites offer safe and secure data and voice transmission for Chinese forces.2021 has been a record-breaking year for Chinese launch activity and this launch was Chinas 47th of the year.Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
