XICHANG, Sept. 1 (China Space News) -- China on Saturday successfully sent twin BeiDou navigation satellites into space on a single carrier rocket.

The Long March-3B carrier rocket lifted off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province at 7:52 a.m.. It was the 283rd mission of the Long March rocket series.

The twin satellites entered orbit more than three hours after the launch. After a series of tests, they will work together with 10 other BeiDou-3 satellites already in orbit.

Named after the Chinese term for the Big Dipper, the BeiDou system started serving China in 2000 and the Asia-Pacific region in 2012.