China launched a new remote sensing satellite into Earth orbit

China launched a remote sensing satellite on Sunday from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China’s Sichuan Province.

A Long March-2D rocket carrying the Yaogan-42 02 satellite was launched at 7:45 am Beijing time. The satellite has entered its predetermined orbit.

Long March-2D China is a two-stage liquid fuel carrier rocket with a thrust of 300 tons.

This rocket is designed to launch single and multiple satellites into different orbits from the three main satellite launch centers in Jiuquan, Taiwan and Xichang. It can deliver 1.3-ton payloads to a sun-synchronous orbit 700 kilometers from Earth.

Today’s launch marked the 517th mission of the Long March rocket family.