China launches two new satellites

TAIYUAN, July 16 (Xinhua) -- China on Saturday launched a Long March-2C carrier rocket to place two satellites in space.

The pair of satellites, Siwei 03 and 04, were lifted at 6:57 a.m. (Beijing Time) from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in the northern province of Shanxi and soon entered the preset orbit.

They will provide commercial remote sensing services for sectors such as land resources investigation, natural disaster monitoring, urban planning and safety.

The mission marked the 427th flight of the Long March carrier rockets.