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Long March 2C/SM | Tan Ce 1

December 29, 2003 at 7:06 PM UTC

Xichang Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Mission imagery · Long March 2C/SM

Launch details

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T−00d00h00m00s

December 29, 2003 at 7:06 PM UTC

Status: Launch Successful · Live feed refreshes every 30 seconds

Launch Complex 3 (LC-3/LA-1)

Xichang Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China · 28.2471, 102.0290

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Launch site
Launch Complex 3 (LC-3/LA-1)

Xichang Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Launch probability
Not published
Window opens
December 29, 2003 at 7:06 PM UTC
Window closes
December 29, 2003 at 7:06 PM UTC
Feed updated
August 4, 2023 at 3:36 AM UTC

Mission description

The Double Star spacecraft, called also Tan Ce (TC) which in Chinese means ‘Probe‘, is a joint Chinese and ESA mission to study the effect of the Sun on the Earth's environment. The polar spacecraft (TC-2) will monitor the energy input from the solar wind into the polar ionosphere. The equatorial spacecraft (TC-1) will investigate the so-called substorm process, when it is in the Earth's magnetotail, and the entry of solar particle on the front side of the magnetosphere.

Vehicle

Long March 2C/SM

Long March 2 · C/SM

Height

42 m

Diameter

3.35 m

LEO capacity

3,850 kg

Successful launches

2

Launch complex

Launch Complex 3 (LC-3/LA-1)

Xichang Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

The Xichang Satellite Launch Center is a spaceport in China. It is located in Zeyuan Town, northwest of Xichang, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan.

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