Posted: Tue, Oct 29, 2013, 8:22 AM ET (1222 GMT)
A Chinese rocket launched what it called a remote sensing satellite, but others believe is a reconnaissance satellite, on Tuesday. The Long March 2C rocket lifted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center at 10:50 pm EDT Monday (0250 GMT, 10:50 am Beijing time Tuesday) and placed the Yaogan 18 satellite into orbit. According to official Chinese media, the spacecraft will be used for civil remote sensing applications and scientific experiments. However, many western observers believe the spacecraft is also, or instead, used for military reconnaissance.

Related Links:

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