China launches three new satellites into space

A Long March-2C carrier rocket carrying a pair of satellites, Siwei 03 and 04, blasts off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi province, July 16, 2022. (ZHANG BIN / XINHUA)

WENCHANG, Hainan – China successfully sent three new satellites into space from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in the southern island province of Hainan on Monday.

The satellites, Shijian-23, Shiyan-22A and Shiyan-22B, were launched aboard a modified version of the Long March-7 carrier rocket at 6:00 am (Beijing Time) and entered their planned orbits successfully.

The Shijian-23 satellite is mainly used for scientific experiments and technical verification, while the Shiyan-22A and Shiyan-22B satellites serve the in-orbit verification tests of new technologies such as space environment monitoring.

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The launch was the 459th flight mission of the Long March carrier rocket series.