China launched a pair of cartography satellites on Thursday (March 9) to boost the country's Earth observation and mapping capabilities. A Long March

China launches pair of mysterious Earth-mapping satellites (video)

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2023-03-19 08:00:07

China launched a pair of cartography satellites on Thursday (March 9) to boost the country's Earth observation and mapping capabilities.

A Long March 4C rocket lifted off into a pre-dawn sky above Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China at 5:41 p.m. EST on Thursday (2241 GMT, or 6:41 a.m. Beijing time on March 10), shedding insulation tiles as it climbed.

The launch successfully sent the Tianhui 6 A and B satellites into orbit, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) — the country's main space contractor — announced (opens in new tab) within an hour of liftoff.

The U.S. Space Force's 18th Space Defense Squadron later tracked and cataloged the satellites in roughly circular 550-mile-altitude (890 kilometers) sun-synchronous orbits.

The satellites will be used in geographic mapping, land resource surveying, scientific experiments and other tasks, according (opens in new tab) to Chinese state media.