spacetoday.net: China launches space science satellite

Posted: Mon, Jul 26, 2004, 1:32 PM ET (1732 GMT)
Long March 2C launch of Tan Ce 2 (ESA)

A Chinese Long March booster successfully launched the second in a pair of space science satellites as part of a joint program with Europe. The spacecraft, called Tan Ce ("Explorer") 2, or simply Probe No. 2, lifted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launching Center on a Long March 2C booster at 3:05 am EDT (0705 GMT) Sunday. The launch was scheduled for Monday but was moved up because of inclement weather forecast for Monday's launch attempt. The booster placed the spacecraft into an elliptical polar orbit with a perigee of 682 km and an apogee of 38,279 km. The spacecraft will be used in conjunction with Tan Ce 1, launched last December, as part of the Double Star joint project between the Chinese National Space Administration and the European Space Agency to study the interaction between the solar wind and the Earth's magnetosphere. The launch is the second Chinese launch of the year, after another Long March 2C placed two small satellites into orbit in April.