April 24, 1970: Dong Fang Hong 1, also known as China 1, was launched aboard China’s Long March 1 rocket as part of the PRC’s Dong Fang Hong (“”The East is Red””) satellite program. The launch made China the fifth nation to launch a satellite on its own rocket. At 173 kg, it was far heavier than the first satellites of other countries. Like Sputnik 1, it carried a radio transmitter. While orbiting the Earth for 28 days, it broadcast the Chinese Communist Party anthem for which the satellite was named

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