At circa 0500 GMT on 25 July, the Chinese commercial launch start-up firm iSpace successfully launched two cubesat-class spacecraft into a 300 km low Earth orbit from the Jiuquan launch site on its Hyperbola 1 (Shian Quxian) rocket – plus some payloads attached to the rocket’s final stage. Details of the satellites and payloads are sketchy.
One of the cubesats is believed to be the CAS-7B – a 1.5U amateur radio cubesat built with the help of the Beijing Institute of Technology. There was also an undisclosed satellite payload for the Aerospace Science and Technology Space Engineering Development Co. Ltd.
The attached payloads apparently include the Yangshi Weilai Xinxing Yanzheng Zaihe (CCTV Future Nova Verification Payload), Another is the Xingshidai-6 (Star Age 6) – a undisclosed/unknown payload, the HEKATE-1 payload for the ZeroG Labs, and the attached payload Cube-X1 (Xigua chuangke). There are reports of two sponsored mass simulators.
Hyperbola 1 launch. Courtesy: mp.weixin.qq.com
