Long March 4C - Yaogan 10 - launched 2010 Aug.10

[EarthlingX]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com : New spy satellite launched by Long March rocket

BY STEPHEN CLARK

Posted: August 10, 2010

A secret Chinese reconnaissance payload successfully launched on a Long March rocket Monday, the sixth time China has sent a satellite into orbit so far this year.

The tenth Yaogan mission lifted off aboard a Long March 4C rocket at 2249 GMT (6:49 p.m. EDT) from the Taiyuan launching center in northern China's Shanxi province. It was 6:49 a.m. local time at Taiyuan.

The three-stage booster placed the spacecraft in an orbit about 380 miles high with an inclination of 97.8 degrees, according to independent tracking data.

http://www.dailybunker.com: China Adds on Reconnaissance and Surveillance Network :

by Colonel on August 13, 2010

China has launched another surveillance satellite last week to bolster its existing capabilities. Yaogan Weixing-10 is the third of its kind and the sixth Chinese satellite launch this year.

Space center :
from Wiki : Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center
from Federation of American Scientists : Base 20 Jiuquan Space Facility

Satellite :
Wiki : Yaogan
space.skyrocket.de : Yaogan 1, 3, 10 (JB-5 1, 2, 3)

From http://www.globalsecurity.org/index.html
CZ-4C Long March Space Launch Vehicle

from Encyclopedia Astronautica and Wiki :

Launcher :
Astronautix :CZ Family
Wiki : Long March (rocket family)
Wiki : Long March 4C

1st stage : CZ-1
engines : YF-20 fuel : N[sub]2[/sub]O[sub]4[/sub]/UDMH

2nd stage : CZ-2
engines : YF-22 fuel : N[sub]2[/sub]O[sub]4[/sub]/UDMH

3rd stage : CZ-YF-40
engines: YF-40 ( i'm not sure ? ) fuel : N[sub]2[/sub]O[sub]4[/sub]/UDMH

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tMc3r8wR6Y[/youtube]

 

[Zipi]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DUQRj4vCeo[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srhy2y5awNY[/youtube]

Sat Info from Heavens-Above: http://www.heavens-above.com/satinfo.aspx?SatID=36834

Real time tracking:

 

[JonClarke]

Despite the usual paranoia in the reporting about "spy satellite" "secret" and "reconnaissance payload" this is a civil earth observation satellite. A miltary mission would be secret, not televised, and the launch controllers would be in uniform not civilian dress.