China launches new space science satellites

The China National Space Administration (CNSA) said that the satellites were launched at 4:00 p.m. (Beijing Time) by a Long March-2C carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China and entered their preset orbits successfully.

According to the CNSA, Macao Science 1 is the first space science satellite program jointly developed by the Chinese mainland and Macao. The project is also the first scientific exploration satellite placed in a near-equatorial orbit to monitor the geomagnetic field and the space environment.

It was the 474th flight mission of the Long March carrier rocket series. A scientific experiment satellite named Luojia-2 was sent into space at the same time.