Long March 2D puts PIESAT-2 13-16 satellites in planned orbit

A Long March 2D launch placed the Zhuzhou Space Interstellar PIESAT-2 13-16 satellites into their planned orbit. The mission was reported as a complete success. The launch site was the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center.

The payload was the Zhuzhou Space Interstellar PIESAT-2 13-16 satellites, and the launch site was the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center.

The launch mission was described as a complete success, and the orbit reached was the predetermined orbit.

The Long March 2D is described as a room-temperature liquid two-stage launch vehicle developed under the overall responsibility of the Eighth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

The rocket is described as having high reliability, good economy and strong adaptability, with single- and multi-satellite launch capability for different orbit requirements.

Its capacity to a 700 km sun-synchronous circular orbit is 1.3 tons, and the flight was the 668th flight of the Long March series.

For readers tracking the lunar industry, the mission is a launch-activity and vehicle-capability data point rather than a stated lunar flight.

It records the 668th Long March series flight and gives a capacity benchmark of 1.3 tons to a 700 km sun-synchronous circular orbit.