The two satellites of the "Double Star" project aim to probe the Earth's magnetic field and are partially funded by the ESA which agreed to an eight million euro (9.5 million dollars) cash injection in a July 2001 agreement.

The project will be capable of probing in three dimensions the incidence and development of space storms in a bid to find ways to improve safety in space, Xinhua news agency said Thursday, while giving no precise dates for the launch.

According to earlier reports, the project's "equatorial" satellite was slated to blast off aboard a Long March 2C/SM carrier rocket from China's Xichang Satellite Launching Center in June this year.

This was to be followed by a "polar" satellite launched from China's Taiyuan Launching Center.

Last month China became only the third country after Russia and the United States to send a man into orbit with astronaut Yang Liwei circling the Earth 14 times in a successful 21-hour flight.

On Saturday, China completed its fourth successful space launch in four weeks when it placed the Zhongxing-20 telecommunications satellite in orbit.

The launch was the 73rd carried out successfully by China since 1970, and its 32nd consecutive successful launch since 1996.

China aims to send 11 satellites in orbit in the 14 months ahead of a second manned space flight scheduled for 2005, Zhang Qingwei, president of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, told the China Daily recently.

The Double Star Project is not the only project between China and the ESA.

On October 30, China agreed to participate in the Galileo satellite navigation system, a joint venture between the ESA and the European Union and will contribute 200 million euros to the 3.3 billion euro project.

SPACE.WIRE