China has carried out its ninth orbital mission within the last 30 days, sending 16 new commercial satellites into orbit with a Long March 6 rocket. The Long March 6 rocket lifted off from Taiyuan, north China, on Wednesday (Aug. 10) at 12:50 a.m. EDT (0450 GMT, 12:50 p.m. local time), the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) announced(opens in new tab). Aboard were 10 Jilin 1 high-resolution optical imaging satellites for Chang Guang Satellite Technology (CGST), a commercial satellite manufacturer and operator based in northeast China and a spinoff from the state-owned Chinese Academy of Sciences. The other six satellites were also developed by CGST, jointly with Yunyao Aerospace, a commercial meteorological satellite data firm.