spacetoday.net: China launches weather satellite

Posted: Tue, Dec 23, 2008, 6:47 PM ET (2347 GMT)
Long March 3A launch of Fengyun 2-06 (Xinhua)

A Long March rocket launched a Chinese weather satellite on Tuesday, the latest in a recent surge in Chinese launch activity. The Long March 3A rocket lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center and placed the Fengyun 2-06 satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit. The 1,390-kilogram spacecraft is the third in a series of geosynchronous weather satellites, following satellites launched in 2004 and 2006. The launch is also the third in just over a three-week period; two Yaogan remote sensing satellites were launched into Sun-synchronous orbits earlier in the month. China has carried out 11 launches to date this year, the most in any single calendar year.