Article Posted on : - Jun 21, 2011

Communication satellite Zhongxing-10.

BEIJING (BNS): China has successfully launched a new communication satellite Zhongxing-10 on early Tuesday, a media report said.

The satellite was blasted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Southwest China's Sichuan on a Long March-3B rocket carrier, Xinhua said.

The Zhongxing-10 is an axis-stablilized DFH-4 communications satellite manufactured by China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC), and operated by the China Direct Broadcast Satellite Company (CHINA DBSAT).

The new satellite is launched to replace the existing ZhongXing-5B (Xinnuo-1, Chinasat-5B) satellite, which was launched on July 18, 1998. The satellite has a lifetime expectancy of 15 years and will deliver a C-band wide beam covering all of Asia and parts of Australia, Europe and Africa.

The launch was the 138th mission for the Long March carrier rocket series, it said.