On December 30, 2003 (December 8, 2003 lunar calendar), the equatorial star of the "Double Star Program" was launched into space. On December 30, 2003, the equatorial star of the "Double Star Program" was launched into space. The "Long March" No. 2 C/SM carrier rocket lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center and successfully sent the first satellite of the "Earth Space Double Star Exploration Program" into space. The picture shows a spectacular scene at the time of launch. According to Xinhua News Agency, the cooperation project between our country and the European Space Agency - the "Earth Space Double Star Exploration Program" kicked off here. At 3:6:18 a.m. on December 30, Beijing time, the Xichang Satellite Launch Center successfully launched the first planned satellite, the "Exploration No. 1" Equator, into space with the "Long March" II C/SM carrier rocket. The "Exploration No. 1" satellite is developed by the China Academy of Space Technology, a subsidiary of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Group company, in charge of platform development and satellite assembly. The collection, management and transmission of payload data on the satellite and some detection instruments are developed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences Space Science and Application Research Center, and other detection instruments are developed by the European Space Agency in coordination with 8 European scientific research institutions. The satellite weighs about 350 kilograms and has a design life of 18 months. Data from the Xi'an Satellite Monitoring and Control Center show that the "Exploration No. 1" satellite has accurately entered the scheduled satellite working orbit with a perigee altitude of 555 kilometers, an apogee altitude of 78,051 kilometers, and an inclination angle of 28.5 degrees. The launch was a complete success. This is the first time our country has launched a high-orbit satellite, and it is also a rare high-orbit satellite in the world. The apogee altitude is more than double that of the geosynchronous orbit. The Xichang Satellite Launch Center has adopted a new launch process, shortening the satellite test period and improving the comprehensive launch capability. The "Earth Space Double Star Exploration Plan" was proposed by scientists in our country in 1997. It consists of two small satellites orbiting the earth in a large elliptical orbit, among which "Exploration 1" is an equatorial star, and "Exploration 2", which will be launched in 2004, is a polar-orbiting star. These two small satellites operate in important activity areas not covered by international earth space exploration satellites. They are mainly used to study the physical processes of solar activity, interplanetary disturbances triggering magnetospheric space storms and disastrous earth space weather. Our country's "Double Star Exploration Program" has attracted the attention of the international space physics community and has been listed as an important partner of the International Sun-Earth Physics Program and ESA's "Star Cluster Program 2". Our country and Europe will use China's "Double Star" and the four satellites of ESA's "Star Cluster Program 2" to jointly explore, and form the first six-point three-dimensional exploration system of the earth's space in human history from the sun to the earth. The scientific results of the exploration will be shared by China and Europe. The "Long March" 2C/SM launch vehicle developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, a subsidiary of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Group company, is an improved version of the "Long March" 2C launch vehicle. This launch is the 75th flight of the "Long March" series of launch vehicles and the 33rd consecutive successful launch of our country's "Long March" series of launch vehicles since October 1996. The person in charge of the relevant party said that the successful launch marks that our country's high-level space physics and environmental exploration has entered a substantive development stage. This is the first time that our country has cooperated with developed countries on a high-level and substantial basis from technology to application with its own advanced space exploration projects. Comments: China's first scientific experimental satellite in the strict sense