China launches three satellites into space

China launched a Long March 2D carrier rocket to send three experimental satellites into space on Friday afternoon, the second spaceflight the country made on that day.

The rocket lifted off at 3 pm at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China's Gobi Desert and then placed the Yaogan 37 and Shiyan 22A and 22B satellites into their preset orbits, according to China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp.

The Yaogan 37 and Shiyan 22A were designed and made by the company's Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, while the Shiyan 22B was built by the Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

All of the satellites are tasked with monitoring and surveying the space environment, the State-owned space conglomerate said in a news release.

Long March 2D, designed and built by the Shanghai academy, is propelled by liquid propellants and has a liftoff thrust of 300 metric tons. It is capable of sending a 1.3-ton spacecraft to a sun-synchronous orbit with an altitude of 700 kilometers.

The launch marked the 461st flight of the Long March rocket fleet and China's fourth rocket liftoff in 2023.

This was the second space launch in China on Friday. A Long March 2C was launched early Friday morning at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Southwest China's Sichuan province to transport a communications satellite into space.

In 2023, the nation plans to carry out around 60 launch missions including manned and robotic flights to the Tiangong space station and the maiden flight of the Long March 6C rocket, space contractors have announced.