A new Chinese rocket took off on its debut mission, marking a major step in Beijing’s effort to catch up with
The first Long March 8A rocket launched from the Wenchang Space Launch Site in Hainan, the island province in the South China Sea, at 5:30 p.m. local time, state media reported.
The inaugural flight transported a group of low-Earth orbit satellites to space, according to state media.
“In the near future, the Long March 8A will be used to deploy large numbers of satellites for China’s massive space-based internet networks,” the official China Daily ...