China has launched a new batch of Yunhai-2 weather satellites that will likely be used by its military. The 2D long march of the Yuanzheng-3 booster rocket was launched at 01:27 EST (05:27 UTC) on March 21 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) confirmed the launch. After about three hours, success was achieved, and it was also revealed that the payload of the mission would be a group of Yunhai-2 (02) satellites.

The satellites were likely launched into a series of orbits after a series of YZ-3 upper stage burns. The launch follows a similar mission in 2018, when the first group of six Yunhai-2 satellites was launched into orbit using a combination of Long March 2D and YZ-3.

According to Chinese state media, these satellites are only briefly described because they are designed to detect the atmospheric environment, monitor the space environment, prevent and mitigate disasters, and conduct scientific experiments.

However, some Western analysts consider the Yunhai series to be military weather satellites. They are believed to use Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) radio coverage (GNSS-RO) to collect atmospheric data. GNSS-RO detects changes in GNSS signals as they pass through Earth’s atmosphere and ionosphere, providing useful data for weather and atmospheric forecasting, ionospheric research, and other fields.

Interestingly, the first Yunhai-2 satellites launched at the end of 2018 were launched into initial orbits, with three orbiting at 520 km and the other three at 1,095 km. However, all six are currently in circular orbits of roughly 800 kilometers, with their orbits rising or falling significantly by mid-2019.

YZ-3 (“Expedition-3”) is equipped with a 5 kN main engine and an autonomous navigation and guidance system. It can perform more than 20 autonomous fast orbit maneuvers. According to the Shanghai Academy of Space Technology (SAST), this is mainly aimed at placing multiple satellites into different orbits. SAST also produces Long March 2D.

The YZ-1S’ upper stage failure last week did not affect Thursday’s mission. This advanced degree was developed by another CASC institute, the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT).

The U.S. Space Force has been tracking the YZ-1S since its DRO-A/B launch in a highly elliptical high-Earth orbit. Orbit data from March 15 show the upper stage in a 524 x 132,577 kilometer orbit in the immediate vicinity of the Moon. A pair of small satellites were supposed to enter a distant lunar retrograde orbit (DRO). China has not provided any updates since a brief note to the media acknowledging the malfunction.

The launch of the Yunhai-2 (02) satellite is China’s 13th orbital mission in 2024. China plans to conduct approximately 100 launches in 2024, of which approximately 70 will be carried out by CASC. China’s commercial launch service providers are planning about 30 launches. The previous launch, which took place in the East on March 19, sent the Queqiao-2 lunar communications satellite to the Moon.