spacetoday.net: China launches remote sensing satellites

Posted: Sun, Nov 26, 2017, 10:12 AM ET (1512 GMT)
Long March 6 launch of three Jilin-1 satellites (Xinhua)

China launched three remote-sensing satellites late Monday. The Long March 6 rocket lifted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center at 11:50 pm EDT Monday (0450 GMT Tuesday) and placed three Jilin-1 imaging satellites into orbit. The launch was the second for the Long March 6, which is part of a new family of rockets that includes the Long March 5 and 7, replacing the aging Long March 2, 3 and 4 series. The satellites, named Lingqiao 04, 05 and 06, will provide imagery and video at resolutions of better than one meter. The satellites are developed by Chinese commercial satellite maker Chang Guang Satellite, which expects to have 60 in orbit by 2020.