China successfully launched the Hai Yang 2B aka HY-2B (English translation: Ocean 2B/Marine 2B satellite) at 2257 GMT on 24 October on a Long March 4B (CZ-4B) launch vehicle from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre in China. The satellite will be used for Oceanographic observation and monitoring. The spacecraft was launched into a near polar sun-synchronous low Earth orbit. In addition to the main payload, theLong March rocket’s third stage, which lowered its orbit after tehr deployment of the Hai Yang 2B, is believed to be carrying some external payloads. According to Jonathan McDowell, Tangguo Guan (“Candy Can”), a 20-29kg payload owned by the online retailer Alibaba is broadcasting promotional messages to mobile phones on Earth. Another payload is the SSP “Space Proving Platform” of China Aerospace carrying the ManWei DSB-01 experiment carrying human DNA samples of eight Chinese people.
Phil Hylands contributed to this report.
