China Launches Disaster-Monitoring Satellite

Long March 2C Rocket Launch, Nov. 19, 2012

The Long March 2C rocket lifted off at 6:53 a.m. Beijing time on Monday, Nov. 19, 2012. (Image credit: Xinhua)

China launched a Long March 2C rocket Sunday (Nov. 18) with a radar-equipped environmental satellite to monitor the globe for natural disasters, according to state media reports.

The Huanjing 1C satellite, mounted on top of a Long March 2C rocket, lifted off at 2253 GMT (5:53 p.m. EST) from the Taiyuan space center in northern China's Shanxi province, according to Xinhua, a Chinese state-run media outlet.

The Huanjing 1C satellite is fitted with a synthetic aperture radar instrument designed to peer through clouds and take images of Earth's surface day-and-night in all weather conditions.

Two small technology demonstration payloads were also sent into orbit on Sunday's launch, which marked China's 16th space launch of 2012.

Stephen Clark is the Editor of Spaceflight Now, a web-based publication dedicated to covering rocket launches, human spaceflight and exploration. He joined the Spaceflight Now team in 2009 and previously wrote as a senior reporter with the Daily Texan. You can follow Stephen's latest project at SpaceflightNow.com and on Twitter.