China has launched nine satellites from a mobile platform at sea, setting national records for the heaviest payload and highest orbit achieved by a single Chinese sea launch. The Gravity-1 rocket carried more than three tonnes of payload to an altitude of approximately 800 kilometres. Chinese authorities described the mission as the first sea-based deployment for a large low-orbit broadband constellation. The ninth spacecraft was identified as an EUHT ultra-high-speed wireless-communications technology demonstrator. Its general purpose is public, but its precise equipment, end users and possible military applications remain unclear. The mission came two days after US Air Force Secretary Troy Meink publicly confirmed that America has fielded “on-orbit space-control weapons.” There is no evidence China’s pre-planned launch was a direct response, but the timing highlights an accelerating strategic contest as both powers become increasingly dependent on space-based communications, navigation, intelligence and targeting.
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US Reveals Orbital Weapons; Two Days Later China Launches Nine Satellites at Sea | WATCH
