Two more Beidou navigation satellites put into orbit

China launched two satellites into space on Tuesday morning for its Beidou Navigation Satellite System, according to the China Satellite Navigation Office.

The satellites were carried by a Long March 3B rocket that lifted off at 11:26 am from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province and were deployed into medium-Earth orbits. They are the 13th group of third-generation Beidou satellites operating in medium-Earth orbits and also the first deployed in such an orbit since the completion of the Beidou global system, the office said in a news release.

The two spacecraft will start formal operation after a period of in-orbit technical verification, it said.

Beidou is China's largest civilian satellite system and one of four global navigation networks, along with the United States' GPS, Russia's GLONASS and the European Union's Galileo.

Since 2000, a total of 62 Beidou satellites, including the first four experimental ones, have been lifted on 46 Long March 3 series rockets from Xichang.

In June 2020, the final satellite to complete Beidou's third-generation network was lifted by a Long March 3B rocket launched from the Xichang center. The following month, the system was declared complete and began providing full-scale global services.

There are nearly 50 Beidou satellites in active service, including the latest pair.