Posted: Fri, Nov 5, 2010, 7:11 AM ET (1111 GMT)
A Long March rocket placed a Chinese weather satellite into polar orbit early Friday, continuing a record-setting string of launches by the country. The Long March 4C lifted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center at 2:37 pm EDT Thursday (1837 GMT Thursday, 2:37 am Beijing time Friday) and placed the Fengyun-3B satellite into a polar orbit. The satellite will be used by China Meteorological Administration to support weather forecasting. The launch was the 13th this year by China, extending a record for most launches by the country in any year, and the second in less than a week.

Related Links:

•  NASASpaceFlight.com article
•  Xinhua article
•  RIA Novosti article