China carries out its first hot launch of a rocket at sea

China successfully completed its first seaborne hot launch of a carrier rocket from the Yellow Sea on Friday, December 9th. The Space Dragon-3, also known as the Jielong-3, a commercial carrier rocket, was successfully launched with 14 satellites on board at 2:35 pm local time on Friday, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation said. China has previously completed cold launches at sea, where a missile is expelled from a launch tube using gas produced externally. The launch of Space Dragon-3 marks the country’s first hot launch at sea, where the rocket launches itself using onboard fuel, local media reported.

Credit: China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation via Storyful