China launches 2 microwave mapping satellites

China on Monday launched two microwave mapping satellites, state media reported.

Home-built Long March-2C rocket carried the satellites into space at 7:39 a.m. (2339GMT, Sunday) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China.

The satellites, Siwei Gaojing-2 03 and Siwei Gaojing-2 04, are commercial microwave mapping satellites owned by China Siwei Surveying and Mapping Technology Co., Ltd and will join a network of optical satellites, to enhance capabilities of optical and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) integrated services.

They are equipped with high-precision radar payloads, providing the world with advanced all-day, all-weather and high-resolution radar images.

It was also the 547th flight mission of the Long March series of rockets indigenously-built by China.

Meanwhile, debris from the recently launched Long March-7 Y9 carrier rocket fell back to Earth late on Sunday night, "with the vast majority of the remnants burning up during the reentry process," according to the China Manned Space Agency.