A Long March 2C/SM rocket and the satellite codenamed TC-1 will lift off from the Chinese Xichang Satellite Launch Centre today or tomorrow. This is the first cooperation between the European Space Agency (EAS) and its Chinese counterpart.

Part of the Double Star program that will launch probes this week and next year, this first probe carries instruments developed by the ESA and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), said Liu Zhenxing, chief scientist of the Double Star Program. It will be the highest flying satellite China has ever launched.

The two satellites in the project have been designed by the Space Technology Institute of the China Aerospace Technology Corporation, CAS and eight European scientific research institutions.