Posted: Fri, Jul 9, 2021, 6:58 PM ET (2258 GMT)
China launched a weather satellite Sunday. A Long March 4C rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 7:28 pm EDT (2328 GMT) and placed the Fengyun 3E satellite into a sun-synchronous orbit. The satellite will operate in a "early morning" orbit that Chinese officials said will fill a gap in weather forecasting. That mission followed a Long March 2D launch from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center at 10:51 pm EDT July 2 (0252 GMT July 3). That rocket placed five small imaging satellites into orbit, four of which are part of the Jilin-1 constellation.

Related Links:

•  NASASpaceFlight.com article on Long March 2D launch
•  Spaceflight Now article on Long March 4C launch
•  Xinhua article on Long March 2D launch
•  Xinhua article on Long March 4C launch