By Cremilda Macuácua, China Africa News
Beijing / Jiuquan, Jan. 31, 2026 — Chinese President Xi Jinping and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune exchanged congratulatory messages Saturday following the successful launch of a new Algerian remote sensing satellite from China’s Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.
The satellite, AlSat-3B, lifted off at 12:01 p.m. Beijing time aboard a Long March-2C carrier rocket, marking another milestone in aerospace cooperation between Beijing and Algiers.
The launch the 629th mission in China’s Long March rocket series successfully placed the remote sensing satellite into its designated orbit, where it will be used for land planning, environmental monitoring, and disaster prevention and mitigation operations.
President Xi described the mission as “another successful cooperation” in the aerospace field and an important demonstration of the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Algeria, building on previous collaborative achievements such as the launch of an Algerian communications satellite.
Xi emphasized the “continuously strengthened political mutual trust and fruitful practical cooperation” between the two nations, expressing his commitment to deepening bilateral ties to deliver shared benefits for both countries’ peoples.
For his part, President Tebboune hailed the launch as a substantial achievement and a new milestone in bilateral relations, highlighting its significance for expanding future cooperation prospects between Algeria and China.
The AlSat-3B satellite is part of a broader Algerian remote sensing initiative carried out jointly by the China Great Wall Industry Corporation a subsidiary of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) and the Algerian Space Agency under an agreement signed in July 2023.
The successful deployment follows the earlier launch of AlSat-3A earlier this year, strengthening Algeria’s capability to gather high-resolution Earth observation data for a range of civilian applications.
