China launched a new stealth satellite on Wednesday as part of its space systems development test programme. The Long March 11 solid-state rocket took off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at 7:41 a.m. ET on March 15 and soared over the Gobi Desert at dusk. The state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) announced that within an hour of launch, the payload named Shiyan-19 had successfully entered its planned near-polar orbit.

Neither CASC nor Chinese state media released details about the satellite. Xinhua said the “experimental satellite will be used primarily for land resources research, urban planning, disaster prevention and mitigation, and other missions.”

The satellite was developed by the Shanghai Institute of Satellite Technology (509th Institute), affiliated with the Shanghai Space Flight Technology Academy (SAST). SAST said the mission uses a platform designed to deliver low-cost, miniature, lightweight satellites with high functional density. SAST itself is the main manufacturer of the space launch vehicle and satellite under CASC.

Shiyan is a series of test satellites, the first of which was launched in 2004. The numbers of Shiyan satellites are usually not consecutive and sent into different orbits. It has been developed by a number of organizations, including the Chinese Academy of Space Technology (CAST), the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), and SAST. Analysis of publicly available information by the China Aerospace Research Institute shows that the Shiyan series satellites played an early role in the development of space systems.

“China has used this series specifically to develop a platform for effective payload integration and also to pilot multiple new technologies on a single satellite bus to determine payload viability,” the analysis said.

CASC first reported that China’s Shiyan-10 satellite, launched in September 2021, is stuck in a geosynchronous transmission orbit due to satellite failure. It was then tracked by the US Space Force in a highly elliptical orbit of 1,880 by 38,881 kilometers with an inclination of 63.6 degrees. A major change in its previous orbital inclination is putting it into a Molnius orbit.

Shiyan-10 (02) was launched in late December last year and has similar orbital parameters, but with a different direct ascent of the ascending node, increasing the time that one of Shiyan-10’s satellite pairs is visible in the northern hemisphere. The Shiyan-19 launch was China’s 10th in 2023, with CASC planning more than 60 launches. Following the launch of the Zhongxing-26 HTS communications satellite on February 23, CASC separately launched Horus-1 and Horus-2 remote sensing satellites for Egypt, as well as a pair of Tianhui-6 A and B mapping satellites.

Long March 11 recently launched the Shiyan-21 satellite from Xichang in southwest China. The missile can also be launched from a mobile naval platform. CASC appears to be ramping up production of the 20.8-metre four-stage rocket, and its manufacturer, the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), says it can now produce 10 Long March 11 missiles per year. An international payload is also expected to be launched in 2023, according to state media.

Commercial and public organizations have announced plans for more than 20 launches in total. The Tianlong-2 rocket is expected to attempt to become the first liquid rocket of this diverse group to reach orbit by the end of March.