China launches L-SAR 01A satellite for land observing

JIUQUAN -- China launched a Long March 4C rocket to place a new satellite in space Wednesday.

The rocket blasted off at 7:44 am (Beijing Time) at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China and soon sent the L-SAR 01A satellite into preset orbit.

The satellite, equipped with L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR), will be used to monitor the geological environment, landslides and earthquakes.

The mission marked the 407th flight of the Long March carrier rockets, said the launch center.

China's L-SAR 01 is a satellite group composed of two satellites (L-SAR 01A and L-SAR 01B), which are designed to be put in an orbit at an altitude of 600 km, according to the China National Space Administration.

Boasting wide coverage and high spatial resolution, the L-SAR satellite project will help reduce China's dependence on foreign data in fields such as geology, earthquake monitoring and emergency support, said the administration.

The L-SAR 01B is scheduled to be launched at the end of February.

[Video by Zhang Jie]