NANJING - China's retired space tracking ship Yuanwang-2 will start its new mission of public education in the city of Jiangyin, in east China's Jiangsu Province.

The Yuanwang-2 was donated to the Jiangyin municipal government on Sunday. The vessel will start its new mission in science popularization education after serving China's aerospace development for more than 40 years.

Both China's first-generation maritime space tracking vessels, the Yuanwang-1 and Yuanwang-2 ships have retired.

The Yuanwang-2 started its service for China's satellites measurement and control missions on the sea in 1979.

Over the past four decades, the vessel has conducted a total of 2,812 days of offshore operations with safe navigation of 520,000 sea miles, completing 47 major scientific experiment missions.

China now has four maritime ocean measurement vessels for space missions, the Yuanwang-3, Yuanwang-5, Yuanwang-6 and Yuanwang-7.

In 2019, vessels of the Yuanwang fleet are expected to conduct a total of more than 700 days of offshore operations as China will have more than 30 space launch missions this year.