Two new BeiDou-3 navigation satellites launched atop Long March 3B

On Saturday, August 25, China successfully launched its Long March 3B booster carrying two new BeiDou-3 spacecraft to replenish China’s homegrown satellite navigation network. Liftoff occurred at 7:52 a.m. local time (23:52 GMT; 7:52 p.m. EDT on August 24) from Launch Complex 3 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center (XSLC) in China’s Sichuan Province. The flight’s success was confirmed by the state-run Xinhua press agency some nine hours after the rocket had left the pad. “China on Saturday successfully sent twin BeiDou navigation satellites into space on a single carrier rocket,” Xinhua informed. Very little is known about the mission’s pre-launch preparations or about the launch itself. Xinhua only noted that both satellites were deployed into orbit more than three hours after the launch and that they will become operational after a series of on-orbit tests. More

(Source: SpaceFlight Insider - Aug 27)