China launches group of internet satellites into space

• Shenzhou-21 crew aboard China's space station completes 1st extravehicular activities on Tuesday

ANKARA

China on Tuesday successfully launched the 15th group of low-orbit internet satellites, marking another step in the country’s expanding space-based communications network, according to state-run media.

The satellites were carried into their designated orbit aboard a Long March-6A rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Shanxi province, the Global Times reported.

China also launched a remote sensing satellite, Yaogan-47, aboard a Long March-4B carrier rocket, from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.

Yaogan-47 will be utilized in national land surveys, urban planning, road network design, crop yield estimation, environmental management and disaster prevention and mitigation, according to Xinhua News.

Separately, the Shenzhou-21 crew aboard China's space station completed their first series of extravehicular activities on Tuesday, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

Three astronauts, Zhang Lu, Wu Fei and Zhang Hongzhang, including its youngest-ever astronaut, worked for eight hours and completed their tasks that included spacewalk operations, inspection and photography of the Shenzhou-20 return capsule's viewport window, the installation of a debris protection device for the space station and the replacement of the multilayer cover on the thermal control adapter

The Shenzhou-21, China's sixth crewed flight mission, was launched in late October.

On Saturday, China launched the 14th group of internet satellites into space aboard a Long March-8A carrier rocket, which was successfully placed into the preset orbit.

The Long March-8A rocket, which made its first flight in February of this year, can carry up to 7 tons to a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 700 kilometers (434.9 miles).