Posted: Sun, Sep 30, 2012, 10:24 AM ET (1424 GMT)
A Long March rocket successfully launched a remote sensing satellite for the government of Venezuela on Saturday. The Long March 2D rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 12:12 am EDT (0412 GMT, 12:12 pm Beijing time) Saturday and placed the VRSS-1 satellite, also known as Francisco de Miranda, into sun-synchronous orbit. The 880-kilogram satellite, built by China Academy of Space Technology, will provide medium-resolution imagery for the Venezuelan government to support various land use and environmental applications.

Related Links:

•  NASASpaceFlight.com article
•  Spaceflight Now article
•  CNN article
•  Bloomberg News article
•  Xinhua article