launched from China

Tan Ce 1

Success
DEC 29200319:06:00 UTC

The first of the two Double Star spacecraft, this was China's first mission to study Earth's magnetosphere and its first major scientific collaboration with ESA. The two probes were placed in orbits chosen to work alongside Europe's four Cluster satellites, and most of the European instruments aboard were in fact Cluster spares, extending that mission's coverage into regions it could not reach.

launched from Xichang

aboard Long March 2C into High Earth

Payload

Tan Ce 1 (Double Star 1)

Magnetosphere research

last updated May 29, 2026