Long March 2D rocket launched

China launched a Long March 2D carrier rocket on Thursday morning at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province, according to China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp.

Four technology demonstration satellites were lifted into space atop the rocket, which blasted off at 5:07 am, and are tasked with demonstrating and verifying new technologies for data transmission between satellites as well as Earth observation, the space contractor said in a statement.

The launch marked the country's fourth spaceflight in 2020 and the 326th mission of the Long March rocket series. The rocket and two of the satellites were developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, and the other two satellites were built by the Harbin Institute of Technology and the China Academy of Space Technology.

The mission could be seen as an indicator that China's space programs have not been extensively affected by the ongoing novel coronavirus outbreak, which has led to the lockdown of some cities in the country and suspension of businesses.

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp said that it now has a lot of workers preparing coming missions, and that measures have been taken to ensure their health as well as the missions' implementation.

The State-owned space conglomerate said in January that it has plans to carry out more than 40 launch missions to serve national space programs, such as the completion of the Beidou Navigation Satellite System, and meet the demand from commercial satellite operators.

Company insiders said the 40-odd planned missions would be carried out by the conglomerate's Long March-series rockets, the nation's backbone rocket fleet, and do not include those to be made by the company's newly developed Smart Dragon solid-propellant rockets. This means the actual number of launches conducted by the company this year will be even bigger.

At least four of the company's new rockets－the Long March 5B, the Long March 7A, the Long March 8 and the Smart Dragon 2－are scheduled to be launched on their maiden mission this year.

Another State-owned actor－China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp－has plans for at least eight launch missions by its Kuaizhou carrier rockets.

Kuaizhou 11, a new type in the Kuaizhou family, is set for its debut flight in 2020 and will become the biggest and most powerful solid-propellant rocket in China.

Moreover, several private rocket enterprises have announced plans to launch missions in 2020 with their own rockets.

China was the world's most frequent user of carrier rockets in 2019 after gaining the title in 2018, with 32 successful orbital launches and two failures that year.