China launches Yaogan-24 remote sensing satellite

A Long March-2D carrier rocket carrying the Yaogan-24 remote sensing satellite blasts off from the launch pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, northwest China's Gansu Province, Nov. 20, 2014. The satellite will mainly be used for scientific experiments, natural resource surveys, crop yield estimates and disaster relief. (Xinhua/Ren Long)

JIUQUAN, Gansu, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- China sent the Yaogan-24 remote sensing satellite into a scheduled orbit at 3:12 p.m. on Thursday 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.