New Delhi:
In a historic space cooperation with Pakistan, China on Monday morning successfully launched two remote sensing satellites for Pakistan.
The launch of the satellites—PRSS-1 and PakTES-1A marks the first international commercial launch for the Long March-2C rocket in about 19 years. The satellites were launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at 11:56 am Monday.
The PRSS-1 is China’s first optical remote sensing satellite sold to Pakistan and the 17th satellite developed by the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) for an overseas buyer.
It will be used for land and resources surveying, monitoring of natural disasters, agriculture research, urban construction and providing remote sensing information for the Belt and Road region.
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A scientific experiment satellite, PakTES-1A, developed by Pakistan, was sent into orbit via the same rocket.
This is another space cooperation between China and Pakistan since the launch of PAKSAT-1R, a communication satellite, in August 2011, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Monday’s launch is the 279th mission of the Long March rocket series. It is also the first international commercial launch for a Long March-2C rocket in nearly two decades after it carried Motorola’s Iridium satellites into orbit in 1999.
