UPDATE - China launches 5 satellites including 2 for satellite navigation system

UPDATES WITH DETAILS OF 2 BEIDOU SATELLITE NAVIGATION SYSTEM SATELLITES; CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK, LEDE

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – China on Tuesday blasted off five satellites into space, including the second successful attempt this month to launch three satellites from sea.

As its 503rd mission, a Long March-11 rocket launched three Shiyan-24C satellites from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in the waters off the coast of Yangjiang city in southern Guangdong province at 6.39 a.m. (2239GMT on Monday).

Shiyan-24C satellites will be used for space science and technology experiments.

China also added two more satellites to its BeiDou Satellite Navigation System (BDS) on Tuesday.

BDS is China’s mega constellation of satellites in the space, operational since 2020.

Indigenously built Long March-3B series rocket carried 57th and 58th satellites of the BDS system, local daily Global Times reported.

The satellites were launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwestern Sichuan province at 11.26 a.m. (0326GMT) on Tuesday.

This marked “the first mission of sending two MEO satellites in one go to the BDS-3 since the system was completed and officially commissioned in 2020, and also the finale of the Xichang Satellite Launch Center for the year 2023,” said BDS deputy chief architect Xie Jun.

The Xichang Satellite Launch Center has launched 19 space missions this year.