China launches SinoSat-6 telecommunications satellite via Long March 3B

A Long March 3B (CZ-3B – Y13) has launched with the SinoSat-6 (also known as the ChinaSat-6A) telecommunications satellite on behalf of China. Lift-off took place at 16:14 UTC on Saturday September 4 (September 5 – 12:14 am local time) from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in SouthWest China’s Sichuan Province. The satellite will replace the SinoSat-3 satellite at 125 degrees East. (Launch Image from ChinaNews.com)
Chinese Launch:
The Chang Zheng-3B (CZ-3B) is China’s most powerful launch vehicle, featuring enlarged launch propellant tanks, better computer systems, a larger 4.2 meter (or 4.0 meter) diameter payload fairing – and the addition of four strap-on boosters in the core stage for additional boost during the first phase of the launch.
The rocket is capable of launching a 11,200 kg satellite to a low Earth orbit, or a 5,100 kg cargo to a geosynchronous transfer orbit in its basic version. The vehicle has a total length of 54.84 meters and a core diameter of 3.35 meters.
The first launch of the CZ-3B took place on February 14, 1996 – but failed shortly after lift-off in what is now known has the ‘St. Valentine’s Day Massacre’.
That failure occurred when the first CZ-3B stage ...