As reported by Ukrinform with reference Xinhua was launched from Taiyuan Cosmodrome in northern China on May 15 at 13:30 Beijing time.

Among the satellites were 36 commercial ground remote sensing devices from the Jilin-1 family, developed by Chang Guang Satellite Technology from Jilin Province in northeastern China. From now on, the number of these satellites in orbit will increase to 108, making it the first commercial spacecraft set of more than 100 units in the country.

The first batch of the Jilin-1 spacecraft was launched in October 2015. Since then, the manufacturing company has continued to develop them, and in eight years it has managed to reduce the weight of each satellite with the same function from 420 kg to 22 kg.

This was achieved through the use of updated image sensors, improved design methods and the installation of advanced integrated microcircuits.

The manufacturer assures that the changes do not affect the resolution of satellite images, but allow to increase their visible range by 50% and reduce the cost of modern devices to a twentieth of the cost of the first satellites.

The launched satellites are expected to be used to provide commercial remote sensing services to industries such as land resources, mineral exploration and smart city development.

Also, the last flight was the 476th flight for the Long March “Great March” missile series.

As reported by Ukrinform, in the city of Wenchang in southern China’s Hainan province, where the country’s first spaceport for commercial space launches was built, the construction of a new, third launch complex has begun.