A Long March 2C (CZ-2C) rocket lifted-off at 0401 GMT on 24 February from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China. It carried a “remote sensing” satellite successfully into a sun-synchronous Low Earth Orbit (LEO). According to Chinese media the satellite was developed by DFH Aerospace – a part of CAST which specialises in small satellites.
The Long March 2C rocket lifts-off from Jiuquan, China. Courtesy of Xinhua/Wang Jiangbo
Comment by Matt Wilson: The identity of the satellite is uncertain at this time as some sources have referred to it as Horus 1 (Helusi 1), which may suggest a connection to Egypt. Egypt ordered a >300 kg EO satellite from DFH in 2019 – more widely known as Misrsat-2 – which was supposedly meant to launch in December 2022. However this mission had none of the hallmarks of launching a customer satellite and at the time of writing there have been no media reports from Egypt on the matter.
Update 27/02/2023: Egyptian media did eventually confirm that the Horus 1 satellite was launched for them by China. Information from the media articles aligns with what was previously known about the satellite Egypt had ordered from China. The involvement of DFH in the project was in a supervisory role helping to train Egyptian engineers.
