China launches three new satellites

China sent a resource satellite and two small satellites into planned orbits from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China Province on Thursday. They were launched on a Long March-4B carrier rocket at 11:26 local time. The resource satellite will provide observation data for natural resources asset management, ecological monitoring, disaster prevention and control, environmental protection, urban construction, transportation and contingency management.

One of the two small satellites launched on the same rocket belongs to Beijing Normal University with the name of BNU-1, and the other belongs to a Shanghai-based private space technology company. Both have an expected lifespan of one year. The launch center successfully applied several self-developed systems for this launch mission. Thursday's launch is the 310th mission of the Long March carrier rocket series.