spacetoday.net: China launches two satellites within 24 hours

China launches two satellites within 24 hours

Posted: Fri, Nov 21, 2014, 7:40 AM ET (1240 GMT)
Long March 2D launch of Yaogan-24 (Xinhua)

Two Chinese launches placed into orbit Earth observation and disaster monitoring satellites in less than 24 hours on Thursday and Friday. A Long March 2D rocket lifted off from the Jiquan Satellite Launch Center in China at 2:12 am EST (0712 GMT, 3:12 pm Beijing time) Thursday and placed the Yaogan-24 satellite into orbit. The satellite, launched less than a week after Yaogan-23, is reported to be used for civil remote sensing and scientific experiments, but is widely perceived in the West to be a military reconnaissance satellite. At 1:37 am EST (0637 GMT, 2:37 pm Beijing time) Friday, a Kuaizhou rocket placed the Kuaizhou-2 satellite into orbit. The satellite is said by Chinese media to provide information on natural disasters. The Kuaizhou rocket is a small solid-fuel vehicle based on a ballistic missile.