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September 13, 2006: China launched a new telecommunications satellite, the Zhongxing-22A, with a Long March-3A rocket carrier at 00:02 AM. The satellite has been designed to operate for eight years.
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April, 12, 2005: China sent a communication satellite -- AsiaSat-6 for Hong Kong-based APT Satellite Limited into space atop the Long March 3B rocket. The successful launch represents the return of the Chinese rockets on the international commercial launch market after an absence of seven years.
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November 18, 2004: launch of another small scientific experimental satellite. The launch aims to test some new satellite technologies, survey and monitor land, resources and the geographical environment on a trial basis.
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October 19, 2004: China launched its first geostationary orbit meteorological satellite, the Fengyun-2C mounted atop a Long March carrier rocket. The FY-2C will help keep track of potentially dangerous weather events such as hailstorms, fog and sandstorms. It can also observe and track forest and prairie fires.
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"Experimental Satellite I", a minisat weighing 204 kilograms, blasted off into space at 11:59 PM, April 18, 2004 aboard a Long March 2C rocket from Xichang. Another microsat, the 25-kilogram "Nano-satellite I", was launched piggyback-style on the rocket. The event marked China's most important breakthrough in the development of small satellites.
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Sino-European space cooperation took a major step forward on December 30, 2003, with the launch of the first of two "Double Star" scientific satellites at Xichang. The satellite, Probe-1 or TC-1, was sent into its preset elliptical orbit ranging between 555 kilometers and 78,051 kilometers, making it the farthest operational spacecraft China has ever catapulted into space.
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November 15, 2003: launch of the China-made Zhongxing-20 satellite. Weighing 2.3 tons, it is a geostationary communications satellite designed by the China Academy of Space Technology under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. The launch was the 73rd by the country's Long March carrier rockets since 1970, and the 32nd consecutive successful launch since October 1996.
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May 25, 2003: China's third Beidou navigation and positioning satellite put into orbit. China sent the first two Beidou navigation satellites into orbit on Oct. 31 and Dec. 21 of 2000.
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May 12, 1997: launch of China Sat-6, a geosynchronous telecommunications satellite with DFH-3 platform designed and manufactured by China Aerospace Industry Corporation.
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July 16, 1990: launch of China's first Long March CZ-2 strap-on launch vehicle, sending a Pakistani experimental satellite and a Chinese satellite into orbit.
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In 1990 it successfully launched the "Asia Sat 1" communications satellite into geosynchronous earth orbit.
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