China launches Pakistani satellite

Beijing: China launched a Pakistani satellite from its Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre in north China's Shanxi Province on Saturday night.

The satellite named PRSC-EO3 was lifted off at 8:15 p.m. (Beijing Time) by a Long March-6 carrier rocket and successfully entered its planned orbit, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

This is the fourth Pakistani satellite launched by China since last year.


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China launched three Pakistani satellites last year.

China has been launching satellites for Pakistan in the last few years, broadening its all-weather alliance with Pakistan into the space arena.

Separately, two Pakistanis who were selected by Beijing for astronaut training to participate in China's space mission training arrived here on April 24.

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The astronauts reached the Astronaut Centre of China in Beijing on Friday to join training alongside their Chinese peers, the China Manned Space Agency announced.

Upon completing all required training and passing the assessments, one of the two will participate in a space mission as a payload specialist, becoming the first foreign astronaut to board China's Tiangong space station, currently in orbit.