BEIJING, Sept. 27 (UPI) -- China's twentieth recoverable
satellite blasted into space Monday afternoon from the Jiuquan
Satellite Launch Center in Gansu province, state-run media said.SAVE MONEY ON TRAVEL DEALS
According to Xinhua, the satellite's mission is scientific
research, geological surveying and mapping. The news agency did not
go into detail, but said the satellite had "better performance than
previous ones."
Officials from the Xi'an Satellite Measuring and Control
Center said the payload from the Long March 2-D carrier rocket
entered a preset orbit approximately 10 minutes after launch.
The satellite is "expected to return in a few days, after
accomplishing its mission", Xinhua said.
The launch was the 80th for the Long March line of rockets
designed by the Shanghai Space Institute, part of the China
Aerospace Science and Technology Group. It was the country's 38th
successful space launch going back to 1996.
On Saturday, Sept. 25, China recovered its 19th experimental
satellite after it spent 27 days in space.
