Posted: Wed, May 30, 2012, 6:00 AM ET (1000 GMT)
A Chinese rocket placed a remote sensing satellite with potential military applications into orbit on Tuesday. The Long March 4B rocket lifted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center at 3:31 am EDT (0731 GMT, 3:31 pm Beijing time) Tuesday carrying the Yaogan 15 satellite. The spacecraft will be used for scientific experiments and civil remote sensing applications, but Western observers believe the spacecraft may also, or instead, be used for military reconnaissance.

Related Links:

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