China successfully launched a pair of BDS satellites by a Long March-3B launch vehicle (with an Expedition-1 upper stage) from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 08:55, on Nov. 23th, 2019.The pair are the 50th and 51st BDS satellites.
The pair are both Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellites, which belong to the BDS-3 constellation, which is being built at the moment. The satellites successfully entered their designated orbits after more than 3 hours of the flight, and will join the constellation after completing the in-orbit test.
The satellites and the launch vehicle (with an Expedition-1 upper stage) for this mission were developed by the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites of Chinese Academy of Sciences and China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation respectively. The launch was the 319th mission of the Long March rocket series.
