China's Smart Dragon-3 rocket launches 8 satellites from sea

A Smart Dragon-3 carrier rocket carrying eight satellites blasts off from the waters near the city of Haiyang in east China's Shandong Province, Sept. 24, 2024. China launched the rocket on Tuesday, placing eight satellites into planned orbit. The commercial rocket blasted off at 10:31 a.m. (Beijing Time), carrying Tianyi-41 and other satellites. The Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center carried out this offshore launch. (Photo by Guo Houze/Xinhua)

HAIYANG, Shandong, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- China launched a Smart Dragon-3 carrier rocket from the waters near the city of Haiyang in east China's Shandong Province on Tuesday, placing eight satellites into planned orbit.

The commercial rocket blasted off at 10:31 a.m. (Beijing Time), carrying Tianyi-41 and other satellites.

The Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center carried out this offshore launch.

Smart Dragon-3 commercial carrier rocket is developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

The four-stage solid-propellant Smart Dragon-3 rocket is a type of cost-effective and highly reliable launch vehicle that is mainly used for launching spacecraft to the sun-synchronous orbit or low Earth orbit, according to the developer.

Smart Dragon-3 has a strong carrying capacity and is suitable for a variety of commercial space launch missions. With a length of 31 meters and a maximum diameter of 2.64 meters, the rocket has a carrying capacity of about 1.5 tonnes for a 500 km solar synchronous orbit, said the developer.

A Smart Dragon-3 carrier rocket carrying eight satellites blasts off from the waters near the city of Haiyang in east China's Shandong Province, Sept. 24, 2024.(Photo by Guo Houze/Xinhua)

A Smart Dragon-3 carrier rocket carrying eight satellites blasts off from the waters near the city of Haiyang in east China's Shandong Province, Sept. 24, 2024.(Photo by Guo Houze/Xinhua)

A Smart Dragon-3 carrier rocket carrying eight satellites blasts off from the waters near the city of Haiyang in east China's Shandong Province, Sept. 24, 2024.(Photo by Guo Houze/Xinhua)

A Smart Dragon-3 carrier rocket carrying eight satellites blasts off from the waters near the city of Haiyang in east China's Shandong Province, Sept. 24, 2024.(Photo by Guo Houze/Xinhua)