Posted: Wed, Nov 20, 2013, 7:10 AM ET (1210 GMT)
A Long March rocket placed a Chinese earth imaging satellite into orbit on Wednesday. The Long March 4C rocket lifted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center at 10:31 pm EST Tuesday (0331 GMT, 11:31 am Beijing time Wednesday) and placed the Yaogan 19 satellite into orbit. The satellite, whose launch not announced in advance, is reported to be used for civil remote sensing activities, although Western observers believe the satellite is used for military reconnaissance in addition to, or instead of, its stated civil purpose.

Related Links:

•  NASASpaceFlight.com article
•  Itar-Tass article
•  Xinhua article