China continues to set records, even as it explores the stars.

China made a new launch record by putting up two Beidou navigation satellites last Friday. The satellites were launched by the Long March 3B rocket, fitted with a Yuanzheng-1 upper stage module. It was launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 7:52 PM last Friday in southwest China.

The launch, Space.com reports, was witnessed by government officials and was hailed as a success by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. The CASC is the country's main contractor for space missions. The mission has adjudged a success around four hours after launch, and up until the satellites are successfully thrust in an orbital direction around the Earth.

Prior to the launch, aerospace notices were issued, closing air traffic to aircraft coming in and out of China. But the week had generally been a busy one for global space missions, particularly those of China and the US.

Ars Technica covered the launch trials of the Exos Aerospace company, testing a reusable, suborbital rocket from the New Mexico desert. No information on how successful the initial tests had gone was released. However, John Quinn, COO of Exos, commented on a webcast that the test had gone on to be 'very successful.' It was the company's hope that further tests will bring them on par with other companies.

Meanwhile, the Falcon Heavy rocket performed to expectations. NASA's fledgling program had given out good numbers, giving NASA a new rocket to use from the Delta IV Heavy rocket. The Delta IV has always been NASA's workhorse, with high-energy missions necessitating the use of its hydrogen-fueled upper stage modules.

In China, the launch was already number 23 for a country with a developing space program. The previous record was 22, and any launch onward has been already a record-setting endeavor. Commercial space companies Landspace, Expace, and OnesSpace expect to reap the benefits of the research being done into these space missions.

While the US launches far fewer rockets, it's because their gear had gotten sophisticated through the years. Using the US space program as a model, China hopes that, one day, the indicator of their own space program would be based on the quality of research material that their missions gather; not different from that of the US and of the NASA.