Posted: Tue, Sep 15, 2015, 11:16 PM ET (0316 GMT)
A Long March rocket placed what Chinese officials described as a high-resolution Earth imaging satellite on Monday. The Long March 2D rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 12:42 am EDT (0442 GMT, 12:42 pm Beijing time) Monday and placed the Gaofen-9 satellite into sun-synchronous orbit. Chinese official described the satellite as a remote sensing spacecraft capable of taking images with resolutions sharper than one meter per pixel. The spacecraft's official purpose is for civil applications, but some outside observes believe it may also have military uses.

Related Links:

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