Posted: Tue, Sep 30, 2014, 8:46 AM ET (1246 GMT)
A Long March rocket placed what Chinese officials called an experimental satellite into orbit on Sunday. The Long March 2C rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 1:13 am EDT (0513 GMT, 1:13 pm Beijing time) Sunday and placed the Shijian 11-07 satellite into a sun-synchronous orbit. Chinese media said Shijian 11-07 will conduct scientific experiments, although many Western observers believe the spacecraft has some kind of military mission, perhaps as part of a missile early warning system.

Related Links:

•  NASASpaceFlight.com article
•  Spaceflight Now article
•  Xinhua article