Posted: Wed, Nov 30, 2011, 7:05 AM ET (1205 GMT)
A Long March rocket launched a Chinese reconnaissance satellite on Wednesday. The Long March 2C rocket lifted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center at 1:50 pm EST Tuesday (1850 GMT Tuesday, 2:50 am local time Wednesday) and placed the Yaogan 13 satellite into orbit. The satellite is intended for scientific experiments and remote sensing, although Western observers widely believe that the satellite is instead or additionally designed for military reconnaissance. The launch was the first flight of a Long March 2C since an August launch failure blamed on a faulty control system in the rocket's second stage.

Related Links:

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