2016年CRI China Launches Belarus' First Telecom Satellite（在线收听）

The Belintersat-1, Belarus' first communication satellite, was sent into the intended orbit today carried by a Long March-3B rocket from southwest China's Xichang Satellite Launch Center.

This was China's first orbital mission of 2016 and the 223rd launch of the Long march carrier rocket.

Wu Yanhua, vice head of China's State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, said the success of the launch means a great start for China's aerospace work this year.

"Its great significance is not just limited to providing telecommunication, broadcasting, Internet or multimedia services for Belarus or other countries and regions. For China's aerospace industry, its global competitiveness will be further enhanced, which will greatly help China's satellites, rockets and other equipment to go global."

The 52-hundered kilogram satellite was built with a designed life of 15 years, and will be put into a geostationary orbit to provide a wide range of telecommunication services, such as satellite TV, radio broadcasting and broadband Internet access.

Cen Zheng from China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology further explained China's competitiveness in this area.

"First, our products are of high quality and reliable with high success rate, which has been 100 percent in recent years. Secondly, we strictly conform to our contracts, and the time and place for launch are always in line with what have been confirmed in the contracts. Thirdly, our rockets' insurance premium rate is relevant low, which is based on our success rate as well as trust from our clients."

Gurulev Sergey Petrovich, Chairman of Belarus' State Military Industrial Committee, has expressed his appreciation towards China for its work.

"The successful launch has positive significance from either economic, social or telecommunication service perspective, it's also a sign of the mutual-trust from bilateral cooperation between China and Belarus."

In their talk over the telephone, Chinese President Xi Jinping has said that China is willing to join forces with Belarus to boost innovation in various fields and push bilateral relations to higher levels.

For his part, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has lauded the satellite's launch as a landmark achievement between the two countries.

China is set to provide the satellite with technological support for the next 3 years.

For CRI, I'm Xie Cheng.