By Aamir Latif
KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - China announced Thursday that it has successfully launched a new satellite into space from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in northern Shanxi province.
The satellite, Tianping-3A 02, was launched at 10.12 a.m. Beijing time (0212GMT) aboard a Long March-6 carrier rocket and entered its preset orbit successfully, Xinhua News Agency reported.
The launch marks the 568th flight mission of the Long March carrier rocket series, it said.
The satellite will be primarily used for the calibration of ground-based radar equipment and radar cross section (RCS) measurement.
It will support imaging experiments for ground-based optical equipment and monitoring tests of the low-orbit space environment, the report said.
It will also provide services for atmospheric space environment measurement and orbital prediction model correction.