Satellites aim to track civil aircraft and ships

China has successfully launched three cube satellites, or CubeSats, that are expected to help track civil aircraft and ships to avoid tragedies like the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.

The three CubeSats, part of a mission coded STU-2, were launched on Sept 25 and have entered their designed orbit, said the mission's chief designer, Wu Shufan.

The three spacecraft are equipped with polar observation cameras, as well as automatic identification system receivers, to capture information from ships, and automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast receivers, for messages sent from civil aircraft.