Moving forward its space research programme, China launched a remote-sensing satellite named Yaogan V on December 15, 2008. The fifth Yaogan satellite was launched with the help of a Long March-4B carrier rocket at 11:22 am from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north Shanxi Province of China. Talking about the operations of the satellite the director of the center, Xu Hongliang informed that the satellite will collect and transmit data involving land resources surveys, environmental surveillance and protection, urban planning, crop yield estimates, disaster prevention and reduction, and space science experiments.

 

Xu Hongliang also said that the flight had been carried out under extreme low temperature. In fact, the launcher was designed to work in low temperature which enabled it to successfully execute the operation on Monday (December 15). Earlier this month China launched Yaogan IV from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern Gansu Province. Its predecessor Yaogan III was launched from Taiyuan on Nov.12, 2007.  The Yaogan I and Yaogan II satellites were launched in April 2006 and May 2007, respectively.

 

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp have developed the newly launched Yaogan V satellite while Shanghai Academy of Space flight Technology has come up with Long March-4B rocket. According to Xu Hongliang, the staffs at Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center have worked very hard to successfully launch the satellite.