China launches Jielong-3 rocket as commercial missions pick up pace

Last year saw 17 Chinese commercial launches with one failure, among a new record 67 orbital launches by China. That was up from 10 Chinese commercial launches in 2022, including two failures. In 2023, China conducted more launches than any other country save the United States, which made 116 launch attempts, including just under 100 by Elon Musk's SpaceX. Critical to the construction of commercial satellite networks is China's ability to open more launch windows, expand rocket types to accommodate different payload sizes, lower launch costs, and increase the number of launch sites such as building more spaceports and using sea launch vessels. More

(Source: Reuters - Feb 4)