China successfully launches new remote-sensing satellites

China has successfully launched two new remote-sensing satellites from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at 3:43 p.m on Nov 3, 2021.

The satellites, members of the Yaogan-32 family, will be used for electromagnetic environment surveys and other technology tests.

They were sent into orbit by a Long March-2C carrier rocket with an attached upper stage named Expedition-1S. Upper stages are independent spacecraft installed on a carrier rocket that are capable of restarting their engines multiple times in space to allow them to send different payloads into different orbits. Therefore, they are also referred to as space shuttles.

The launch was the third mission of Expedition-1S. Its first flight with a Long March-2C carrier rocket was in October 2018, when the pair sent the first group of satellites of the Yaogan-32 family into orbit. Then on August 24, 2021, the pair launched three communication technology test satellites into space.

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