BEIJING, July 14 -- An earth observation satellite jointly developed by China and Brazil was put into operation on Tuesday.

The China-Brazil Earth Resource Satellite-04 (CBERS-04) was sent into orbit on Dec. 7, according to the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence.

Tests on the satellite's application and operational systems during orbit were found to meet the general requirements of the design.

The satellite was developed by China's Academy of Space Technology and the National Institution of Space Research from Brazil. It can cover terrain the size of China in 26 days and provide images of medium solution.

Data from the satellite will be used in crop estimate, survey of geological disasters and other fields, and will be provided to African and Latin American countries for free, the administration said.

China and Brazil signed the satellite cooperation agreement in 1988. The two countries have sent three earth resource satellites into orbit in 1999, 2003 and 2007, respectively.