Posted on 10/01/2021 7:38:35 PM PDT by BenLurkin
China has confirmed the loss of its Shiyan-10 satellite, despite an otherwise successful liftoff on Monday (Sept. 27).
The Shiyan-10 satellite launched to space on a Long March 3B rocket, which lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China around 4:20 a.m. EDT (0820 GMT; 4 p.m. local time) on Monday (Sept. 27).
The spacecraft was China's second orbital launch of the day, following the Jilin-1 Gaofen 02D satellite, which was carried by a Kuaizhou-1A rocket that lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at 2:19 a.m. EDT (0619 GMT; 2:19 p.m. local time). That spacecraft is reported to have entered orbit successfully.
The Chinese state media released a statement on Tuesday (Sept. 28) confirming the Shiyan-10 satellite failure, claiming the spacecraft was not functioning as expected and had been lost after a normal flight the day before, SpaceNews reported.
Shortly after liftoff on Monday, "a flash in the night sky" was seen over New South Wales, Australia, and reported on Twitter. That flash was likely caused by a burn of the upper stage of the Long March 3B rocket, which, at the time, suggested the launch was on course, according to SpaceNews.
The name and purpose of Long March 3B's payload had not been confirmed prior to launch. However, data from the U.S. Space Force showed the payload was targeting a geosynchronous orbit around Earth. A few hours after launch, an object was cataloged, confirming that the Shiyan-10 satellite had successfully separated from the rocket's upper stage.
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The Angry Alligator can get it...
Long March, short flight
Major Chao’s secret orbital mission ended much sooner than expected.
China is the big bad wolf but unfortunately the USA is a paper tiger.
Japan got clawed severely by the Paper Tiger.
Who knows, maybe we’ve got one more like that in us.
So when can we expect this next piece of Chi-com space junk to crash back to earth?
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