China launches a new experimental plate-shaped satellite to orbit

China launched its first plate-shaped satellite into orbit last Friday, June 9. The experimental communications satellite, Longjiang 3, was launched aboard a Kuaizhou 1A solid-propellant carrier rocket at 10:35 am local time from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China’s northwestern desert, an update from the rocket’s developer, China Aerospace Science, and Industry Corp. reveals. Researchers at the Harbin Institute of Technology in Heilongjiang Province developed Longijang 3. It was designed to test high-speed communications capabilities using an experimental plate shape. Kuaizhou 1A rocket launches experimental satellite The new mission was the 20th time China’s Kuaizhou 1A rocket model took…