Posted: Sun, May 25, 2003, 10:18 AM ET (1418 GMT)
A Long March booster successfully launched a Chinese navigation satellite early Sunday, Chinese officials announced. The Long March 3A booster lifted off from the Xichang launch center at 12:34 am Beijing time Sunday (12:34 pm EDT, 1634 GMT Saturday) and its payload, a Beidou satellite, separated from the booster 20 minutes later. The satellite will join two other Beidou (Chinese for "Big Dipper") satellites launched into geosynchronous orbit in 2000 to create a rudimentary satellite navigation system. The launch is the first of the year for China, and was not previously announced.

Related Links:

•  People's Daily article
•  AFP article
•  AP article
•  Beidou information from astronautix.com