(Yicai Global) Aug. 2 -- China's Longjiang-2 microsatellite was decommissioned on July 31 through a controlled crash on the dark side of the moon, after a triumphant 437 day-long mission orbiting and observing Earth's neighbor, the China Lunar Exploration Project said on WeChat today.

Weighing just 47 kilograms and with a one-year lifespan, Longjiang-2 is the world's first microsatellite successfully launched into lunar orbit and capable of using its own propulsion to slow down at perilunar and lunar orbits. It opens up new possibilities for low-cost outer space exploration.

The satellite was equipped with a Chinese-developed ultra-long wave detector to explore different radiation spectrums around the moon.

It also carried on board a small optical imaging detector made in Saudia Arabia that produced images around 30 times. These included some extraordinary high-definition pictures of both the earth and moon together, and of the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Mediterranean, Arabian Peninsula and other areas from outer space.