ESA's low-orbit navigation satellite successfully launched in New Zealand.

Local time in New Zealand on the evening of the 28th, the European Space Agency's "Cheops" mission's first two satellites were successfully launched on the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand and will be used to explore satellite navigation based on low Earth orbit, complementing the European Galileo satellite navigation system in medium Earth orbit. According to a bulletin released by the European Space Agency, these two satellites lifted off from a launch site in New Zealand aboard the American Rocket Lab's "Electron" rocket on the same day, and the two satellites will conduct tests in the L-band and S-band. As planned, the follow-up launch in 2027 will complete the layout of 11 satellites in orbit for the "Cheops" mission. European Space Agency Director Josef Aschbacher said, "The 'Cheops' mission will demonstrate how a low Earth orbit satellite navigation constellation can complement the existing Galileo system operating in medium Earth orbit in Europe."