Photo is courtesy of Xinhua/Yang Shiyao.

[Satnews] China successfully sent the Tianhui-1C mapping satellite into orbit at 3:10 p.m. (local time) on Monday from the Jiuquan satellite launch center in the northwestern province of Gansu.

The satellite was aboard a Long March 2D carrier rocket, the 215th launch of the Long March series carrier rockets, according China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASTC), the producer of the rocket.

Designed by a subsidiary of the CASTC, Tianhui-1C is the third satellite in the Tianhui-1 series and will be used for scientific experiments, land resource surveys, mapping, crop yield estimation and disaster relief.