This Day, That Year: March 26

Editor's note: This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China.

On March 26, 1998, China Great Wall Industry Corp successfully launched two Iridium satellites into orbit for US company Motorola, as seen in the item from China Daily.

The launch marked the country's 50th flight of the Long March rocket. From September 1997 to June 1999, 12 Iridium satellites were launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Shanxi province.

Established in 1980, China Great Wall is the sole commercial organization authorized by the Chinese government to provide satellites, commercial launch services and to carry out international space cooperation.

So far, the company has provided more than 70 launch services for clients from home and abroad.

In July, it launched two satellites for Pakistan, marking a major step in the two nations' cooperation in the space sector.

This year, the sixth satellite jointly built by China and Brazil is scheduled to be launched.

In July 1988, the Chinese and Brazilian governments agreed to carry out a joint space effort called the China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite program.

The country's satellite launch industry has taken huge strides in recent years.

Last year, China saw 39 orbital launches, equaling the nation's total space missions in the 1990s.

These launches accounted for one-third of the world's space missions last year - more than the combined missions of Russia, the European Union and India, which ranked third to fifth in the annual launch list. The second-highest number of launches was 34 by the United States.

Last year, three private space startups in Beijing - OneSpace, i-Space and LandSpace - carried out launches at government-run testing sites, marking the start of the private sector's participation in the country's space-launch market.