China to launch satellite named after Wuhan

Beijing : China will launch the first two communications satellites for its space-based Internet-of-Things project this month with one of them named after its birthplace Wuhan, the epicentre of coronavirus, officials said on Friday.

The rocket to send the satellites, Kuaizhou-1A, was developed by the Wuhan-based Sanjiang Group under the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC).

Despite its proximity to the epicentre of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the company staff worked hard to ensure the success of the mission.

The two satellites, Xingyun-2 01 and 02, are the first stars of the "Xingyun Engineering" project, which is scheduled to complete the network with 80 low-orbit communications satellites.