China launches 23rd group of low-Earth-orbit internet satellites

China on Tuesday launched the 23rd group of satellites for its low-Earth-orbit satellite internet constellation from the Hainan Commercial Space Launch Site in Wenchang, south China’s Hainan Province.

A Long March-8A carrier rocket lifted off and placed the satellites into their designated orbit. The mission was a full-system validation flight following performance upgrades to the Long March-8A. The upgrades increased the rocket’s payload capacity, supporting future frequent launches of large batches of satellites for constellation deployment.