Posted: Sun, May 12, 2024, 9:12 AM ET (1312 GMT)
China launched a pair of medium Earth orbit broadband satellites late Wednesday. A Long March 3B rocket lifted off at 9:43 pm EDT (0143 GMT Thursday) from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. Only after the launch did China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation disclose the payloads as Smart Skynet-1 (01) satellites A and B. The satellites are the first in a constellation of at least eight satellites in medium Earth orbit to provide broadband services, possibly working with future low Earth orbit megaconstellations.

Related Links:

•  SpaceNews article
•  Xinhua article