Posted: Thu, Dec 21, 2023, 2:01 PM ET (1901 GMT)
China launched a large optical satellite to geostationary orbit Friday. A Long March 5 rocket lifted off from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center at 8:41 am EST (1341 GMT). The rocket placed the Yaogan-41 satellite into a geostationary transfer orbit. The satellite is believed to be a military followup to the civilian Gaofen-4 satellite launched in 2015, which used the smaller Long March 3B rocket and produced images with a resolution of 50 meters from GEO.

Related Links:

•  SpaceNews article
•  Ars Technica article
•  Xinhua article