China launched five small satellites designed to detect and monitor global radio transmissions Friday on top of a Long March 6 rocket, joining five similar spacecraft deployed in orbit in 2019.
The five Ningxia, or Zhongzi, satellites rocketed into orbit on top of a 95-foot-tall (29-meter) Long March 6 booster that lifted off from the Taiyuan space center at 7:59 a.m. EDT (1159 GMT) Friday, according to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp., or CASC.
The launch of the three-stage Long March 6 rocket occurred at 7:59 p.m. Beijing time. The kerosene-fueled rocket headed southeast from the Taiyuan launch base in northern China to place its five payloads into orbit.
U.S. military tracking data indicated the rocket deployed its payloads in an orbit at an altitude of about 535 miles (860…
