Witnesses said the high-altitude Explorer 1 was sent into orbit by a Long March 2C/SM rocket at 3:06 am (1906 GMT Monday) from the Xichang Satellite Launching Center in Sichuan province.

Tracking reports from the Xi'an Satellite Monitor and Control Center showed the launch went to plan, with the satellite expected to work in space for 18 months, the Xinhua news agency reported.

The mission -- the first time European experiments have been integrated with Chinese satellites -- is the first of two elements in the joint Sino-European "Double Star" project.

A polar satellite is expected to go up within six months.

While a Sino-European first, the launch is also notable as the first time China has cooperated ever with developed countries in space exploration, Xinhua said.

Proposed by Chinese scientists in 1997, the "Double Star" project satellites have been jointly designed by the Space Technology Institute of the China Aerospace Technology Corporation, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and eight European scientific research institutions.

The European Space Agency has partially funded Double Star, agreeing to an eight million euro (9.5 million dollars) cash injection in a July 2001 accord.

Explorer 1 is set to fly further than any other satellite in China's space history, and will monitor parts of the two magnetic fields of the Earth's atmosphere in a bid to better understand environmental changes in space, the program's chief scientist Liu Zhenxing said.

More specifically, it will probe the Earth's magnetic field, ionosphere and middle to high layers of atmosphere.

The system will be capable of studying, in three dimensions, the incidence and development of space storms, to help improve the safety of space activities.

The Double Star mission 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.

China has lofty plans for its space program following its successful launch this year of a man into orbit, becoming only the third country after Russia and the United States to achieve the feat.

It has announced plans to send a spacecraft to orbit the moon within three years and for an unmanned landing in 2010.

Tuesday's launch was the 75th carried out successfully by China since 1970, and its 33rd consecutive successful launch since 1996.

SPACE.WIRE