China launches final rocket of the year

China launched a Long March 3B carrier rocket on Thursday afternoon to transport an experimental satellite into space, completing the busiest year for the country's space industry in terms of launches.

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, the nation's leading space contractor, said in a news release that the rocket blasted off at 12:43 pm from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwestern China's Sichuan province and later deployed the Shiyan 10-02 experimental satellite into its preset orbit.

The satellite is tasked with demonstrating new technologies that will be used for monitoring the environment in space and other purposes.

The launch marked the 53rd flight of the Long March rocket family this year and the 458th since the large fleet's maiden flight in 1970. It was also the nation's 64th space mission in 2022.

Multiple Chinese space industry insiders confirmed on Thursday that there will be no other launches this year.

In 2021, China conducted 55 space launches, with the Long March series carrying out 48 of them. The final launch last year was also made by a Long March 3B rocket.

China launched its first carrier rocket — a modified ballistic missile — in April 1970 to deploy its first satellite, Dongfanghong 1, into space. With the success of that mission, China became the fifth country in the world capable of building and launching its own carrier rocket to Earth's orbit.

Since then, the country has developed and launched nearly 30 types of carrier rockets, most of them part of the Long March series.

Currently, there are 22 models of the carrier rockets in service in China, 16 of which are in the Long March family.