Cosmic Penguin
Geek Penguin in GTO
Yeah, another super-secretive Chinese launch that went off in the middle of the night happened yesterday...... :zzz:
A Long March 4C rocket was launched at 19:16 UTC (3:16 am local!) yesterday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, launching Yaogan 17 into orbit.
Well at least the payloads are rather interesting - like the similar Yaogan 9 (launched March 2010) and Yaogan 16 (launched November last year), the payload is actually three satellites in formation flying in a 1100 km altitude, 63.4 degree inclination orbit. This orbit is used by the Americans for the Naval Ocean Surveillance System (NOSS) satellites, which fly in triangular formation to capture and determine the exact position of radio transmissions of naval warships, submarines and aircraft, as well as capturing the exact signals transmitted between them. This launch apparently completes the tri-orbital plane system needed for effective use, so watch out aircraft carriers of the world, the Big Red Panda is watching you! :uhh:
NASASpaceflight.com: Long March 4C launches three Yaogan Weixing-17 satellites
A Long March 4C rocket was launched at 19:16 UTC (3:16 am local!) yesterday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, launching Yaogan 17 into orbit.
Well at least the payloads are rather interesting - like the similar Yaogan 9 (launched March 2010) and Yaogan 16 (launched November last year), the payload is actually three satellites in formation flying in a 1100 km altitude, 63.4 degree inclination orbit. This orbit is used by the Americans for the Naval Ocean Surveillance System (NOSS) satellites, which fly in triangular formation to capture and determine the exact position of radio transmissions of naval warships, submarines and aircraft, as well as capturing the exact signals transmitted between them. This launch apparently completes the tri-orbital plane system needed for effective use, so watch out aircraft carriers of the world, the Big Red Panda is watching you! :uhh:
NASASpaceflight.com: Long March 4C launches three Yaogan Weixing-17 satellites
