Posted: Thu, Dec 11, 2014, 9:34 AM ET (1434 GMT)
China launched Thursday a remote sensing satellite what Western observers believe to be a trio of naval reconnaissance satellites. The Long March 4C rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 2:33 pm EST Wednesday (1933 GMT Wednesday, 3:33 am Beijing time Thursday) and placed the Yaogan-25 satellite into orbit, according to state media. Those reports described Yaogan-25 as a single satellite intended for scientific experiments and civil applications. Western observers believe Yaogan-25 is instead three formation-flying satellites used for naval reconnaissance.

Related Links:

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