Posted: Tue, Jun 2, 2020, 11:46 AM ET (1546 GMT)

A Long March 2D rocket launched a Chinese optical imaging satellite Sunday. The rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 4:53 am EDT (0853 GMT) Sunday, placing the Gaofen-9 satellite into orbit. The satellite is designed to take images of the Earth at an estimated resolution of 1 meter. A secondary payload on the launch was HEAD-4, a smallsat by Chinese company HEAD Aerospace intended to perform ship and aircraft tracking.