China on Monday sent two new test satellites into space from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwestern province of Sichuan.

The test satellites, Shiyan-30 01 and 02, were launched at 11:00 a.m. (Beijing Time) aboard a Long March-2D carrier rocket and entered their preset orbits successfully.

The satellites will be mainly used for experimental verification of Earth observation technologies.

The launch marked the 598th flight mission of the Long March series carrier rockets. This is also the 100th launch of Long March-2D carrier rocket which is a two-stage liquid-fueled launch vehicle capable of deploying single or multiple satellites into a variety of orbits.