China launches secretive TJS-27 pair, orbits next-gen Tianlian relay sat

China sent a new pair of secretive satellites into a programmatically new orbit Wednesday, while also upgrading its on-orbit communications relay capabilities. A Long March 6A rocket lifted off at 9:00 p.m. Eastern July 29 (0100 UTC, July 30) from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) announced launch success, revealing the payloads to be the communication technology test satellites 27A and 27B (TJS-27A and 27B. More

(Source: SpaceNews - Aug 2)