Posted: Sun, Nov 25, 2012, 9:58 AM ET (1458 GMT)
A Long March rocket placed a Chinese remote sensing satellite into orbit on Sunday. The Long March 4C rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 11:06 pm EST Saturday (0406 GMT, 12:06 pm Sunday Beijing time) and placed the Yaogan 16 satellite into orbit. The satellite will be used for a variety of earth sciences and disaster management applications, according to official Chinese media. However, it may have military applications as well, as some western observes note that the spacecraft may actually be three spacecraft intended to carry out a naval reconnaissance mission.

Related Links:

•  NASASpaceFlight.com article
•  Xinhua article