China launches latest remote sensing satellite Yaogan-29

BEIJING: China has successfully launched a remote sensing satellite which will focus on experiments on survey of land, crop yields and disaster relief.

The satellite named Yaogan-29 was carried by a Long March-4C rocket after it was launched yesterday from Taiyuan in the country's northern Shanxi province.

This is the 219th mission for the Long March rocket family. China launched the first "Yaogan" series satellite, Yaogan-1, in 2006.

The satellite will be used for experiments, land surveys, crop yield estimates and disaster relief, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

However, western analysts believe the series of satellites are of a military nature, using electronic intelligence, electro-optical and synthetic aperture radar sensing equipment.

This launch comes weeks after China had successfully launched Yaogan-28.