China launched two space probe satellites on a single rocket at 7:34 am local time on 24 October, 2006. The two satellites which constitute Group-02 of Shijian-6 satellites will replace two others who have reached the end of their lifetimes. These satellites are used for performing a number of space exploration programs like probing the space environment, analyzing the influence of radiation on the environment and various other physical quantities associated with the space environment.
The launch took place from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in the Shanxi province of North China. The satellites were carried by a Long March-4B rocket, the first of which was disengaged 11 minutes after launch and the second a minute later. Both the satellites have settled into their pre-determined orbits. Both satellites have a working life expectancy of about 2 years.
One of the satellites and the rocket were built by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST) and the other satellite by DFH (Dongfanghong which stands for “The East is Red”). With this launch the Long March series of rockets completed their 92nd space flight and the 50th straight launch of satellites. These rockets had also been used for China's first human crew space flight in 2003.
China has been among the world's top countries in space exploration and space missions. This launch of multiple satellites on a single rocket is an extraordinary thing in space technology and China piloted this in 1981 and became only the fourth country to do so.
It has since done a number of such launches. The 2003 manned mission mentioned above made China the third country to conduct such a mission after Russia and the United States. Its space ambitions continue with plans for a permanent space laboratory and an orbital lunar probe by the year 2020.
