Making its second orbital launch within one week, China has successfully launched a Long March 2C rocket carrying the Yaogan 18 satellite. Liftoff from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center took place at 2:50 UTC on Tuesday and the flight was declared a success by Chinese officials.
Coming about two months after the most recent Yaogan Satellite launch, Yaogan 18 will continue China’s efforts of maintaining and expanding the Yaogan constellation of low-orbiting remote sensing satellites.
The Yaogan Weixing Satellite Fleet consists of remote sensing spacecraft that either carry optical, Synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) or electronic intelligence payloads. According to Chinese Officials, the Yaogan Satellite Constellation is used for scientific experiments, land survey, crop yield assessment, and disaster monitoring. However, it is believed that the satellite system serves military purposes. The real purpose of the satellites is likely optical surveillance and tracking warships by acquiring their optical signatures and radio transmissions.
After Yaogan 18 was delivered to orbit, USSTRATCOM detected the spacecraft in a 492 by 512-Kilometer orbit at an inclination of 97.55 degrees with a local time of descending node of 9:56 am. The launch time, launch vehicle and orbital parameters closely match those of the Yaogan 6 satellite that was launched on April 22, 2009...
Btw, is the direct translation of "jade hare" to mandarin pinyin, exactly "yu tu"?
