A Long March-2D carrier rocket carrying the Yaogan-24 remote sensing satellite blasted off from the launch pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

Photo courtesy of Xinhua/Ren Long.

[SatNews] China sent the Yaogan-24 "remote sensing" satellite into a scheduled orbit at 3:12 p.m. on Thursday, November 20, 2014, from the Jiuquan satellite launch center.

Yaogan satellites will mainly be used for scientific experiments, natural resource surveys, crop yield estimates and disaster relief. The Yaogan-24 was carried by a Long March-2D rocket, the 199th mission for the Long March rocket family. China launched the first satellite in the "Yaogan" series, Yaogan-1, in 2006.