Spaceflight Now Home



Spaceflight Now +



Subscribe to Spaceflight Now Plus for access to our extensive video collections!
How do I sign up?
Video archive

Next Mars rover delayed

Launch of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory will be postponed from 2009 to 2011 due to hardware development delays.

 Play

STS-126: Full coverage

More than 200 videos covering shuttle Endeavour's STS-126 mission to the space station are archived for viewing.

 Play

Daily shuttle highlights

Daily highlights movies from recent space shuttle flights can be seen here.

 Play

Become a subscriber
More video





NewsAlert



Sign up for our NewsAlert service and have the latest news in astronomy and space e-mailed direct to your desktop.

Enter your e-mail address:

Privacy note: your e-mail address will not be used for any other purpose.



China launches another Earth-observing satellite
BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW

Posted: December 15, 2008

China launched a secretive Earth observation satellite early Monday for land surveys and disaster monitoring, according to state media reports.

The Yaogan 5 satellite blasted off on a Long March 4B rocket at 0322 GMT Monday from the Taiyuan launch base in northern China. Launch occurred at 11:22 a.m. local time, the state-owned Xinhua news agency reported.

The three-state rocket boosted the spacecraft into a sun-synchronous orbit, where the satellite will begin operations in environmental surveillance, urban planning, crop studies, emergency response and space science experiments, according to Xinhua.

The new satellite is the fifth Yaogan craft launched by China since 2006. The most recent launch occurred just two weeks ago.

Even-numbered members of the Yaogan fleet were launched from the Jiuquan space center aboard Long March 2D boosters. Odd-numbered satellites flew into orbit from Taiyuan on Long March 4B launchers.

Western analysts believe Yaogan satellites could also be used for a range of military reconnaissance applications, but Chinese officials did not release any further details on the satellites' missions.

Monday's launch was the 10th space launch of the year for the Chinese space program. The flight also marked the 64th space launch of 2008 to reach orbit from sites around the world.

Expedition 20
The official embroidered patch for the International Space Station Expedition 20 crew is now available from our stores.
 U.S. STORE
 WORLDWIDE STORE

Current Shuttle Mission Patch
The official embroidered patch for shuttle Atlantis' flight to deliver critical spare equipment to the space station.
 U.S. STORE
 WORLDWIDE STORE



Ares Patch
The Ares Project will develop two new rockets to launch astronauts back to the Moon under NASA's Vision for Exploration. The Ares 1 will employ a single space shuttle solid rocket booster to loft the Orion crew capsule. The gigantic Ares 5 will haul the equipment and cargo needed for such lunar voyages. This is the Ares emblem.
 U.S. STORE


One Giant Leap
Hosted by Corbin Bernsen, this award winning documentary marks the 50th anniversary of the U.S. space agency and features exclusive interviews with veteran astronauts.
 U.S. STORE
 WORLDWIDE STORE

Expedition 21
The official embroidered patch for the International Space Station Expedition 21 crew is now available from our stores.
 U.S. STORE
 WORLDWIDE STORE


INDEX | PLUS | NEWS ARCHIVE | LAUNCH SCHEDULE
ASTRONOMY NOW | STORE

ADVERTISE

© 2009 Spaceflight Now Inc.