At 12:10 on April 17, 2026, the Long March 4C carrier rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, successfully delivering the High-Precision Greenhouse Gas Comprehensive Detection Satellite into its preset orbit. The launch mission was a complete success. The satellite will support the construction of major green and low-carbon transition projects, serve China's "dual carbon" strategy and the Beautiful China Initiative, and advance remote sensing applications in global climate change research and related fields. Both the satellite and the rocket for this mission were developed under the leadership of the Eighth Academy.
The High-Precision Greenhouse Gas Comprehensive Detection Satellite is an operational satellite under China's National Civil Space Infrastructure Medium- and Long-Term Development Plan. It operates in a sun-synchronous orbit and is equipped with five payloads: an atmospheric detection lidar, a wide-swath hyperspectral greenhouse gas monitor, an infrared hyperspectral atmospheric composition sounder, an ultraviolet hyperspectral atmospheric composition sounder, and a cloud and aerosol imager.
The Long March 4C carrier rocket, which performed this launch mission, is a room-temperature liquid three-stage launch vehicle developed under the leadership of the Eighth Academy. It features excellent performance and wide application flexibility, capable of launching satellites of various types and orbital requirements, in either single-satellite or multi-satellite configurations. Its sun-synchronous circular orbit payload capacity reaches 3 tons (at an altitude of 700 kilometers).
For this mission, the rocket was equipped with the Eighth Academy's unified 3800 composite fairing, marking the first application of this product on the Long March 4 rocket. This fairing offers advantages including a larger envelope space, strong wave-transparency, and light structural weight, effectively enhancing the rocket's carrying capacity and mission adaptability. It will also serve as the primary configuration for future models. Throughout the mission, all team members upheld the spirit of "resilience, pragmatism, unity, and enterprise," focusing on their posts and strictly fulfilling quality responsibilities. With a rigorous, prudent, meticulous, and pragmatic work ethic, they ensured the complete success of the launch mission.
This launch marks the 117th flight of the Long March 4 series, the 263rd launch of Long March series rockets developed by the Eighth Academy, and the 638th launch of the Long March family of carrier rockets.