The CERES 1 Y7 rocket blasted off at 12:03 pm at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China's Gobi Desert and placed the satellites into their preset orbits, the company said in a news release.
On an overcast, windy morning in late July, standing in the arid Gobi Desert of Dunhuang city, Northwest China's Gansu province, was a test in its own right; the air was dry and hot. What greeted the eye was nothing but an endless wavy terrain formed by sand and rocks.