Rocket launches observation satellite

China launched a new Earth observation satellite, Gaofen-6, on Saturday, mainly for use in agricultural research and disaster monitoring.

The Gaofen-6 was launched with a Long March-2D rocket at 12:13 pm from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. Luojia-1, a scientific satellite, was blasted into space on the same rocket.

It was the 276th mission of the Long March rocket series.