China launches space-based observatory to unravel Sun

China sent a solar exploration satellite into space from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on October 9, furthering the country's scientific endeavor to unravel the mysteries of the Sun.

The Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory (ASO-S), nicknamed Kuafu-1 in Chinese, was launched aboard a Long March-2D rocket at 07:43 a.m. (Beijing Time) and entered its planned orbit successfully, Xinhua reports.

After four to six months of testing, the 859-kg satellite will start normal operation 720 kilometres away from the Earth to study the causality between the solar magnetic field and two major eruptive phenomena, namely solar flares and coronal mass ejections, thus providing data support for space weather forecasting.