For the fourth time in less than 10 months – and the second one to claim a successful flight – China has debuted a new small satellite launch vehicle based on solid rocket motors with a payload of less than one tonne to Low Earth Orbit. The Smart Dragon-1 (SD-1) rocket, also known by its Chinese name Jielong-1, lifted off from the mobile launch pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China today at 04:11 UTC. Chinese media has later declared the launch a success.
