China conducted its first space launch of 2022 on Jan. 17, successfully sending a satellite into orbit on a classified mission. Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua first reported the launch, which it said took place at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, about 260 miles southeast of Beijing in the province of Shanxi. The satellite, Shiyan-13, is the latest in China’s Shiyan series of experimental satellites, first launched in 2004. It successfully entered orbit after launch, where it will engage in an unknown mission. It was developed by the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites (IAM), part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the regime’s top state-run research institute, according to Space News. According to the IAM’s website, it specializes in the development of “telecommunication, remote sensing, navigation, micro/nano satellites, and scientific satellites.” While it is impossible to say with certainty what types of programs the Shiyan-13 will contribute to due to the classified …