Compass-G1 was launched at 16:12 GMT on 16 January 2010,[2] and was the first orbital launch to be conducted in 2010.[3] The launch used a Long March 3C carrier rocket, flying from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre. It was the first flight of a Long March 3 series rocket since an upper stage engine problem in August 2009 which left the Palapa-D satellite in a lower than planned orbit.[4] The injection systems on the rocket's third stage engines had filters fitted to them in an attempt to prevent a recurrence of this failure. The Compass-G1 launch demonstrated this new system.[5]
Compass-G1 had originally been scheduled for launch in the first half of 2009, however it was subsequently delayed after issues developed with the Beidou-1D[6][7] and Compass-G2 satellites.[8]
^Cameron, Alan (2009-08-01). "The System: Compass Awry". Contributor:Langley, Richard B. GPS World. Archived from the original on 2009-08-14. Retrieved 2010-01-13.
Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ). Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).