China blasts off record 40th orbital launch of 2021

China set a new national record for orbital launches in a calendar year with the launch of a commercial remote sensing satellite on a Kuaizhou-1A solid rocket on oct 27, 2021. The Kuaizhou-1A lifted off from a mobile launcher into clear blue skies above the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert at 2:19 a.m. Eastern, Oct. 27. The Jilin-1 Gaofen (“high resolution”) 02F remote sensing satellite was successfully inserted into its intended orbit.