JIUQUAN:- China launched a new space environment research satellite and four nanosatellites on a Long March-2D carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at 7:40 a.m. Tuesday. The satellites have successfully entered their preset orbit, according to the center. Shiyan-6 will be used for conducting space environment exploration experiments. The term nanosatellite refers to a small artificial satellite weighing between 1 and 10 kg.

Among the four nanosatellites, Tianping-1A and Tianping-1B will be used for equipment calibration on ground control stations, while Jiading-1 is the first satellite of the Xiangyun satellite constellation in low earth orbit.
A software-defined satellite, developed by the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, will be used for conducting experiments on open-source satellite software research and development on Android platforms.