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China has successfully launched Yaogan-30 remote-sensing satellite into sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) using the Long March-2D rocket. The rocket was launched from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center located in Gobi desert in northwest ChinaТs Gansu Province. It was the 227th flight of the Long March rocket series and was also the second orbital launch from the Jiuquan Satellite launch Center in 2016. Key facts The Yaogan-30 satellite was built by the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST). It is part of second generation of the Yaogan series inaugurated in 2008. The first Yaogan satellite was launched in 2006. Features: It has two deployable solar arrays along with batteries. It uses the CAST-2000 platform, which has a dry mass of about one metric ton. Advertisement Applications: Yaogan-30 will be used for land surveys, crop yield estimates, experiments and disaster relief purposes. Western Critics believe that Yaogan-30 is fitted with electronic intelligence (ELINT), electro-optical and synthetic aperture radar-sensing equipment to conduct military reconnaissance on a global scale. The Long March 2D is a two-stage rocket mainly used to launch a variety of satellites to low-Earth orbit (LEO) and SSO.
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