Posted: Sat, Nov 15, 2014, 11:31 AM ET (1631 GMT)
A Long March rocket placed a Chinese Earth imaging satellite into orbit on Saturday. The Long March 2C rocket lifted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center at 1:53 pm EST Friday (1853 GMT Friday, 2:53 am Beijing time Saturday) and placed the Yaogan-23 satellite into orbit. Chinese media said the satellite will be used for civil remote sensing and scientific experiments, but Western observers believe the satellite will be used for military reconnaissance. The launch was not announced in advance by Chinese officials.
