TAIYUAN, CHINA — China launched the sixth remote-sensing satellite from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north Shanxi Province on 22nd of April. The satellite, ‘Yaogan VI,’ was successfully launched into the space on a Long March 2C carrier rocket at 10:55 a.m.
It will be mainly used for land resources survey, environmental surveillance and protection, urban planning, crop yield estimates, disaster prevention and reduction, and space science experiments, according to the center.
China has so far launched five remote-sensing satellites. The first Chinese remote-sensing satellite blasted off in April 2006, and four more were launched in 2007 and 2008.
With the successful launch of “Yaogan-VI” it is presumed that China has established a new real-time data transmission spy-star constellation, which consists of 3 SAR satellite (Yaogan-I Yaogan-III and Yaogan-V) and 3 imaging satellites (Yaogan-II, Yoagan-IV and Yaogan VI), replacing previous satellites.
