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China has launched three of its Long March rockets in a single day, breaking the previous launch cadence record spacex,
All three rockets blasted off within 19 hours of each other on Tuesday, bringing China’s number of orbital launches this year to 83.
“The launch mission was a complete success,” China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) said in a statement.
“This was the third successful launch of China’s Long March rockets today, setting a new record for three launches in a day.”
The fastest previously recorded launch sequence was in March 2024, when SpaceX launched three Falcon rockets in a span of 20 hours and 3 minutes.
SpaceX still holds the record for most orbital launches in a year, which it has already surpassed last year’s record Out of 134 launches. Elon Musk’s company is aiming to complete 178 orbital launches by the end of this year.
China’s record-setting launch cadence comes as the country’s space agency looks to rapidly expand its orbital infrastructure to become a space superpower.
One of three launches Tuesday delivered a batch of internet satellites into low-Earth orbit to join the Guowang constellation. The other two launches were for classified satellites that would be used by the Chinese military.
There are now more than 100 active Guowang satellites in orbit, with state-owned China Satnet planning to expand the constellation to 13,000 in the coming years.
It would be the same size as SpaceX’s Starlink network, which already has about 9,000 satellites in operation.
China has also built its own space station after being kicked out of the International Space Station (ISS) due to US national security concerns.
The Tiangong space station hosted its first crew in 2021 and currently has three crew members.
Last month, China launched an unmanned spacecraft as part of the Tiangong Second phase of rescue operation The astronauts had to turn back after their original spacecraft’s window was damaged by suspected space debris.