Chinese Long March 3B lofts next Beidou-3 satellite

The fifth Chinese launch in September took place at 23:13 UTC on Tuesday (Wednesday morning local time) with a Long March-3B/G2 rocket orbiting another Beidou-3 navigation satellite. The launch of BDS I2-S (or Beidou-20) took place from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center via the modified pad 3. Tuesday’s launch is another steady step in the completion of the Phase III of the Beidou program several years ahead of schedule – by as soon as 2017, rather than 2020. However, the launch initially received a blackout in the Chinese media, with lift-off only confirmed by local observers. It took over an hour – once the spacecraft was successfully deployed – for the Chinese media to acknowledge the launch. More

(Source: NASASpaceflight.com - Sep 30)