Navigation satellite deployed in Chinese launch

China launched a new member of its budding satellite navigation system Tuesday, the first of up to 10 such spacecraft scheduled to be added by the end of next year. The Compass G2 satellite blasted off at 1616 GMT (12:16 p.m. EDT) from the Xichang launch base in southwestern China's Sichuan province, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported. A Long March 3C booster deployed the navigation satellite into a geostationary transfer orbit with a high point of about 22,250 miles, a low point of about 125 miles and an inclination of 20.5 degrees, according to tracking data. More

(Source: SpaceFlightNow.com - Apr 15)