China launched a constellation of SatNet communications satellites

The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) successfully launched the 17th batch of SatNet low-earth-orbit communications satellites, The Daily Baku reports, citing the company's WeChat page.

The liftoff took place on Friday at 7:26 Beijing Time from the commercial platform of the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center (in the southern province of Hainan). The CZ-8A launch vehicle was used for the launch. This is the 620th mission for this series.

The CZ-8A is a two-stage hydrogen-oxygen rocket with a fairing diameter of 5.2 meters and a length of 50.5 meters. It is capable of delivering 9.8 tons of cargo to low Earth orbit (3.5 tons to geostationary transfer orbit). Compared to the CZ-8, this improved model features a modernized first stage and a larger second stage with a new YF-75H engine, based on the same engine used in the CZ-5. This is its sixth launch; all of them took place in 2025.