China lofts pair of Beidou navigation satellites with 25th space launch of 2018
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(Photo: People's Daily)

China successfully launched a pair of Beidou navigation and positioning satellites into medium Earth orbits on Wednesday, marking the country's 25th launch of a record-setting 2018.

A Long March 3B rocket with a Yuanzheng-1 upper stage lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in southwest China at 14:07 UTC (22:07 local, 10:07 EDT).

The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) declared the mission a success just over four hours later, following direct insertion of the Beidou-3 satellites into their intended medium Earth orbits (MEO).

Wednesday's mission saw the 37th and 38th satellites of the Beidou system put into orbit, following the launch of the first in 2000.