At 11:33 am Beijing time on October 19th, the Zhongke Aerospace Lijian-1 Yao-8 carrier rocket was successfully launched from the Dongfeng Commercial Aerospace Innovation Experimental Zone, using the "one rocket, three satellites" method to send Pakistan's remote sensing satellite 02, Zhongke satellite 03, and 04 into the predetermined orbit.
Lijian-1 is a four stage solid launch vehicle developed by the Institute of Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences with the participation of the General Manager and China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. It uses solid fuel engines and has a 500km solar synchronous orbit carrying capacity of 1500 kg. It is characterized by rapid launch and low-cost networking.
This mission is the ninth flight of Lijian-1, and as of now, a total of 73 satellites have been launched into the designated orbit, with a total payload of over 9 tons.
Zhongke Satellite 03 and 04 are developed by Zhongke Satellite Technology Group Co., Ltd. They are two X-band SAR remote sensing satellites operating in a sun synchronous freeze return orbit at an altitude of 505km. The main payload is the first domestic Cassegrain dual reflector antenna system SAR payload, which has interferometric SAR measurement and on-board AI processing capabilities. The imaging resolution is better than 0.5m. Under the condition that the total weight of the satellite is less than 270kg, the maximum SAR imaging time per circle reaches 5 minutes, which is a leading level in China. After entering orbit, the two satellites will be included in the AIRSAT constellation operation, serving fields such as natural resources, agriculture and rural areas, emergency disaster prevention, water conservancy construction, urban planning, etc.
Pakistan Remote Sensing Satellite 02 was developed by the Institute of Microsatellite Innovation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. This mission is its 77th satellite launch, which has successfully launched a total of 216 satellites covering communication, navigation, remote sensing, science, micro nano and other fields.
Zhongke Aerospace is the only domestic civil and commercial rocket company that has achieved multiple extraterrestrial launch missions, with launch services covering regions such as China, Europe, North America, South Asia, and the Middle East. Previously, Lijian-1 Yao-5 successfully launched Oman's intelligent remote sensing satellite on November 11, 2024, and Yao-10 launched two Mexican satellites on August 19, 2025. This Yao-8 mission is the third overseas satellite launch mission of this type of rocket.
