![](http://www.ecns.cn/hd/2023/12/27/c92dbbff39294522a679b591e3cb5c0d.jpg)
A Long March-3B carrier rocket and the Yuanzheng-1 (Expedition-1) upper stage attached to the carrier rocket, carrying two new satellites, the 57th and 58th satellites for the BeiDou-3 Navigation Satellite System, blast off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province, Dec. 26, 2023. (Photo: China News Service/Qiu Lijun)
The launch marked the first mission of sending two MEO satellites in one go to the BeiDou-3 Navigation Satellite System since the system was completed and officially commissioned in 2020.
![](http://www.ecns.cn/hd/2023/12/27/96405d1d3343450ea362ead86c91fccf.jpg)
A Long March-3B carrier rocket and the Yuanzheng-1 (Expedition-1) upper stage attached to the carrier rocket, carrying two new satellites, the 57th and 58th satellites for the BeiDou-3 Navigation Satellite System, blast off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province, Dec. 26, 2023. (Photo: China News Service/Qiu Lijun)
![](http://www.ecns.cn/hd/2023/12/27/5af346ff410b44c2a741829d3390f81b.jpg)
A Long March-3B carrier rocket and the Yuanzheng-1 (Expedition-1) upper stage attached to the carrier rocket, carrying two new satellites, the 57th and 58th satellites for the BeiDou-3 Navigation Satellite System, blast off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province, Dec. 26, 2023. (Photo: China News Service/Qiu Lijun)