China successfully launched a new ocean observation satellite on Monday afternoon.
A Long March-4B rocket carrying the HY-2C satellite lifted off at 13:40 Beijing Time from northwest China's Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.
The HY-2C satellite, named after the Chinese word Haiyang for "ocean" and given the "HY" designation for short, is the country's third marine observation satellite, and the second space-borne infrastructure satellite to provide ocean dynamics monitoring services.
It will team up with the HY-2B, which was launched in October 2018, and subsequent HY-2D to form a network for maritime environment monitoring, enabling China to carry out 24/7 all-weather high-precision monitoring of maritime data including sea surface height, temperature and winds and wave height.
The HY-2C satellite and the Long March-4B carrier rocket were developed by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
Monday's launch marked the 347th flight of the Long March launch vehicle family.
(Source: Reuters)