On Monday morning China launched a new remote sensing satellite
"Yaogan III".
The satellite was launched from a Long March-4C carrier rocket
lifting off at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's
Shanxi Province at 6:48 AM, Beijing Time.
It entered preset orbit 21 minutes later.
The 2,700-kilogram satellite will be used for scientific
research, land resources surveying, crop yield estimates and
disaster prevention and relief.
Both the satellite and the carrier rocket were developed by the
Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology affiliated with the
China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
The launch was the 104th mission of China's Long March rocket
series that first began in April 24, 1970 when a Long March-1
rocket successfully sent China's first satellite Dongfanghong-1
into space.
On Oct. 24, a Long March 3A carrier rocket successfully sent
China's first lunar probe Chang'e-1 into space.
The "Yaogan I"satellite was also launched from the Taiyuan
Satellite Launch Center on April 27, 2006. The "Yaogan II" was
launched on May 25, 2007 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center
in northwest China's Gansu Province.
(Xinhua News Agency November 12, 2007)
