China launched a Long March-2C carrier rocket on Monday, placing two satellites into space.
The rocket blasted off at 7:39 a.m. (Beijing Time) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China and sent the pair of satellites, Siwei Gaojing-2 03 and Siwei Gaojing-2 04, into the preset orbit.
It was the 547th flight mission of the Long March series of rockets.
Developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, Siwei Gaojing-2 03 and Siwei Gaojing-2 04 are commercial microwave mapping satellites owned by China Siwei Surveying and Mapping Technology Co., Ltd.
According to the developer, the Siwei satellites are equipped with high-precision radar payloads, providing the world with advanced all-day, all-weather and high-resolution radar images.
They will join previously launched optical satellites to form a network in orbit, further enhancing the capabilities of optical and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) integrated services.