China’s Chang Zheng 4B launches Gaofen 11-03 satellite

Keeping up a rapid pace of launches this year, China deployed the Gaofen 11-03 satellite Saturday using its Chang Zheng 4B rocket. The launch took place from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center at 01:51 UTC (09:51 Beijing Time) and marks China’s forty-fourth orbital mission of 2021. Gaofen 11-03 is the third in a series of high-resolution optical imaging Gaofen 11 satellites, part of the wider Gaofen series which aims to provide China with a global high-definition Earth-imaging capability for civil applications. Gaofen means “high resolution,” and the Gaofen constellation is unrelated to the smaller commercial Jilin-1 Gaofen satellites. More

(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Nov 22)