A Long March 2D-2 rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan launch site in Inner Mongolia carrying the DAMPE (Wukong) astronomy satellite at 0012 GMT on 17 December 2015. DAMPE – DArk Matter Particle Explorer carries a space telescope for the detection of high energy gamma-rays, electron and cosmic rays. The 1,900kg DAMPE spacecraft and its three year mission is a joint collaboration between the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the University of Science and Technology, Hefei, China, the Departement de Physique Nucleaire et Corpusculaire of the University of Geneva, Switzerland, and the Universities of Perugia, Bari and Lecce in Italy.
