Episode Details

China launched two carrier rockets on Tuesday, signaling the start of the country's annual space mission schedule, which will feature a robotic lunar landing and two manned spaceflights.

中国在周二发射了两枚运载火箭；此举标志着中国年度航天任务计划正式启动，其中包括一次月球机器人着陆任务和两次载人航天飞行。

At 10:16 pm, a Long March 6A rocket blasted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Shanxi province, and it soon placed the Yaogan 50A remote-sensing satellite into a preset orbit.

1月13日22时16分，长征六号改运载火箭在太原卫星发射中心点火起飞，随后将遥感五十号01星送入预定轨道。

The satellite, built by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, is tasked with obtaining data to support land resource surveys, agricultural yield forecasts, and disaster prevention and mitigation.

这颗由上海航天技术研究院研制建造的卫星，肩负着获取数据以支持土地资源调查、农业产量预测以及防灾减灾的任务。

Data obtained by the Yaogan family, the major series of remote-sensing spacecraft in China, has been widely used by governments, public service sectors and businesses.

中国主要遥感卫星系列遥感家族获取的数据已被政府、公共服务部门和企业广泛应用。

The Long March 6A, which was also developed by the Shanghai academy, is a medium-lift launch vehicle. It comprises a 50-meter liquid-propelled core booster and four solid-fuel side boosters. The rocket has a liftoff weight of 530 metric tons and is tasked with transporting satellites to multiple types of orbits, including sun-synchronous, low-Earth and intermediate circular ones.

长征六号改运载火箭同样由上海航天研究院研制，属于中型运载火箭。该火箭由50米长的液氧煤油核心助推器和四台固体燃料侧助推器组成，起飞重量达530吨，可将卫星送入太阳同步轨道、近地轨道及中地球圆形轨道等多类轨道。

The launch marked China's first space mission in 2026 and the 624th flight of the Long March rocket fleet.

此次发射标志着中国2026年首次太空任务，也是长征火箭家族的第624次飞行。

At 11:25 pm, a Long March 8A carrier rocket lifted off from the Hainan International Commercial Aerospace Launch Center, a coastal spaceport in Hainan province, deploying the 18th group of low-o