The four spacecraft went up aboard a Long March 2D rocket on Thursday (June 10).

China launched four new satellites into orbit on Thursday (June 10), including a commercial satellite for tracking near-Earth asteroids.

A Long March 2D rocket lifted off from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China on Thursday at 11:03 p.m.

The firm describes (Chinese) the small satellite as China’s first optical space telescope.

Beijing-3 is a remote-sensing satellite that will be operated by Twenty First Century Aerospace Technology Co., Ltd (21AT), a commercial space company.

The satellite was developed by a subsidiary of the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), the main satellite-making arm of China’s chief state-owned space contractor, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC).

Hisea-2 is an optical remote-sensing satellite for marine ecological environment observations for Xiamen University.

Hisea-1 was a radar remote-sensing satellite launched on the first Long March 8 rocket in December 2020.

The Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST), another major CASC institute, provided the Long March 2D rocket for the mission.