China says successfully launches Einstein Probe satellite
by AFP Staff Writers
Beijing (AFP) Jan 9, 2024

China successfully launched a satellite into space on Tuesday, state broadcaster CCTV said.

"At 3:03 pm Beijing time (0703 GMT) on January 9, 2024, China successfully launched the Einstein Probe satellite," CCTV reported.

The launch triggered concern in Taiwan, where authorities issued emergency phone notifications warning the public to "please beware of your safety". Taiwan's foreign minister said the alert was issued because of possible "debris".

The Einstein Probe set off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in southwestern Sichuan province, around 2,000 kilometres (1,243 miles) from Taiwan's capital Taipei, state media said.

CCTV said it was launched "using the Long March-2C carrier rocket... and the satellite entered its designated orbit".

The satellite will "observe mysterious transient phenomena in the universe comparable to the flickering of fireworks", state-run news agency Xinhua reported Tuesday.

It will aim to unveil "the violent and little-known aspects of the cosmos", Xinhua added.

Footage released by CCTV showed the white rocket soaring into the air in a plume of white smoke before separating in orbit.

Scientist Yuan Weimin, who led the project, was quoted by state media as describing it as the "most beautiful satellite I've ever seen".

Plans for China's "space dream" have been put into overdrive under President Xi Jinping.

The world's second-largest economy has pumped billions of dollars into its military-run space programme to catch up with the United States and Russia.

In October, the country sent a fresh team to its Tiangong space station -- the latest crewed mission for a growing space programme that plans to send people to the Moon by 2030.

An annual report by the US Department of Defense to Congress last year estimated that China had conducted 60 successful space launches, putting 180 satellites in orbit in 2022 -- a five-fold increase compared to five years prior.

That report also placed China in second place behind the United States in terms of operational satellites.

China satellite launch triggers Taiwan emergency phone alert
Taipei (AFP) Jan 9, 2024 - A Chinese satellite launch triggered Taiwan's emergency phone alert system on Tuesday, days before the self-ruled island holds a crucial presidential election that has heightened security worries around the region.

Chinese state media said that Beijing had successfully launched the "Einstein Probe satellite using the Long March-2C carrier rocket at the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre".

"The satellite entered its designated orbit," CCTV reported, adding that the launch was a "complete success".

Around the same time in Taiwan, phones across the island sounded with an emergency alert.

"China launched (a) satellite which flew over the southern airspace," said the alert in Chinese. "Public, please beware of your safety."

However the English part of the message described it as an "air raid alert", warning of a "missile flyover Taiwan airspace".

The alert came as Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu was holding a press conference with foreign reporters in Taipei ahead of Saturday's election.

He assured reporters that it was a satellite, explaining that the alert was issued because of possible "debris".

"When a rocket is openly flying in our sky, some of their tubes or debris will fall in this region," Wu told reporters.

"That's the reason why our national alert centre will issue this kind of alert. It has happened before."

Saturday's election will be closely watched from Beijing to Washington as voters choose a new leader to steer the island in the face of an increasingly assertive Beijing.

Front-runner Lai Ching-te, Taiwan's current vice president, accused Beijing of using "all means" to influence Saturday's vote.

China has maintained a near-daily military presence around Taiwan, sending in fighter jets, naval vessels and drones.

The latest incursion came Monday when four balloons flew over the island, according to Taiwan's defence ministry, while 10 Chinese warplanes and four naval vessels were also observed.

China's state-run Xinhua news agency said the satellite will be used to make astronomical observations, in particular "mysterious transient phenomena in the universe comparable to the flickering of fireworks".

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