Posted: Sat, Dec 31, 2022, 9:53 AM ET (1453 GMT)
China launched a classified satellite Thursday. A Long March 3B rocket launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 11:43 pm WST Wednesday (0443 GMT Thursday) carrying the Shiyan-10 (02) satellite. Shiyan-10 (02) is a classified spacecraft which could be sent to join the earlier Shiyan-10 satellite in a highly elliptical Molniya orbit to provide greater operational coverage of the northern hemisphere. Chinese media described the satellite only as one that will be "used for in-orbit verification of new space technologies, such as space environment monitoring." The launch was the 64th this year by China, a record for the country, and expected to be the final one of the year.

Related Links:

•  SpaceNews article
•  Xinhua article