China successfully launched two satellites into space with a Long March-4B carrier rocket early Tuesday morning.(Xinhua Photo)
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They were launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi province at 7:34 a.m.
Satellite A was detached from the rocket after 11 minutes of take-off, followed by the detachment of Satellite B about one minute later. Both have successfully entered preset orbits.
The two satellites, which form Group-02 of Shijian (practice)-6 satellites, were manufactured by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST) and DFH (Dongfanghong, or The East is Red) Satellite Co., Ltd. respectively. Both have a designed life of more than two years.
They will mainly replace the two Shijian-6 satellites launched on Sept. 9, 2004, to conduct exploration of space environment, radiation in space and their influence, parameters of physical environment of the space, and carry out other related space experiments.
The carrier rocket used in Tuesday's launch was developed and manufactured by the SAST. The launch marked the 92nd flight of Long March series of carrier rockets and the 50th consecutive successful launch of such rockets since October 1996.
In 1981 China became the fourth country in the world to be able to launch more than one satellite at the same time with just one rocket. China has succeeded in such launching for many times since then.
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China hat gestern zwei Forschungssatelliten in den Weltraum transportiert. Der Start erfolgte um 07:34 Uhr Ortszeit mit einer Trägerrakete vom Typ Langer Marsch-4B, die vom Satellitenstartzentrum Taiyun in der nordchinesischen Provinz Shaanxi abhob.

Die Aufgabe der Satelliten mit Namen Shijian-6-A und Shijian-6-B ist die Erforschung der Umgebungsbedingungen im Weltraum, der Radioaktivität im Weltraum und deren Schwankungen sowie eine Messung physikalischer Gesetzmäßigkeiten. Die Satelliten mit einer Lebensdauer von über zwei Jahren wurden von den Firmen „Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology“ (SAST) und „DFH Satellite Co., Ltd“ („Dongfanghong“ oder „Der Osten ist rot“) gebaut.

Bei dem Flug handelt es sich um den 92. Flug einer Rakete der Serie „Langer Marsch“.