China launching research satellite with European space agency

BEIJING (AP) — China announced Saturday it would launch a research satellite in the coming week with the European Space Agency to study the Earth’s magnetic fields.

The launch of Probe No. 1 is to take place Tuesday or Wednesday aboard a Chinese-made Long March 2C-SM rocket, the National Space Administration of China said.

The satellite is to be part of a pair called “Double Star” that are the first joint project between China and the ESA.

It is to carry instruments developed by the ESA and Chinese scientists, the administration said. The second satellite is due to be launched next year.

China said earlier that the satellite would be its highest launched to date, flying in an orbit that would range from 550 kilometers to 66,970 kilometers (340 miles to 41,500 miles).

China has been firing satellites into orbit since 1970, and on Oct. 15 launched its first manned space capsule.