Second Double Star satellite successfully launched ESA PR
43-2004. Yesterday, 25 July at 09:05 CEST (15:05 local time) the
Chinese National Space Administration successfully launched Tan
Ce 2, the second of the Double Star science satellites. This
marks the latest important milestone in the scientific
collaboration between China and the European Space Agency. Tan
Ce ("Explorer") 2 was launched from the Taiyuan spaceport west
of Beijing (Zhangye province) using a Long March 2C rocket. The
launch, initially scheduled for today 26 July, took place one
day earlier in order to avoid adverse weather conditions
expected in the days to come. The spacecraft will join Tan Ce 1,
which was launched on 29 December 2003, to complete the Double
Star configuration. About 8 hours after launch the two solid
booms holding the magnetometers were successfully deployed. In
the next few weeks, all spacecraft sub-systems will be checked
out and the commissioning of the on-board scientific instrument
will follow. Double Star will ope