China has launched a new communication satellite into space.

This is reported by CGTN, as conveyed by Ukrinform.

The spacecraft was launched into its designated orbit by the Long March 3B rocket, which took off from the Xichang launch site in the southwestern province of Sichuan on Saturday at 20:11 local time (14:11 Kyiv time).

The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the country's main state contractor in the space sector, announced on social media that the "Zhongxin-10R" satellite, also known as ChinaSat-10R, will replace the ChinaSat-10 launched in 2011 and is intended to provide satellite communication services to users across various sectors of China's economy, including transportation, emergency response, energy, forestry, and land use.

Additionally, the new satellite will serve countries and regions along China's Belt and Road Initiative.

It is known that the series of ChinaSat satellites, managed by China Satellite Communications (China Satcom), a subsidiary of CASC, offers a range of communication services, including television broadcasting, internet connectivity, radio transmission, secure military communication, and mobile satellite communication.

CASC has yet to publish its annual plans, but it is expected that this year, as in the past, China will again aim for at least 100 space launches.

Among the previously announced plans for 2025 are the launches of crewed Shenzhou-20 and -21 missions with crew and the Tianzhou cargo spacecraft to the Tiangong space station, the introduction of new commercial rockets from the Long March series, and reusable rockets.

The latest mission marked the 560th flight of Long March rockets.

As reported by Ukrinform, on February 11, the American company SpaceX launched another batch of 23 Starlink internet satellites into space.

Photo: VCG