Article Posted on : - Sep 09, 2014

The Long March-4B rocket of China. Image courtesy: China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp.

BEIJING (PTI): China on Monday successfully launched two satellites into orbit to relay information on natural resources, disaster management and smart satellite experiments.

The Yaogan-21 remote sensing satellite was launched into preset orbit from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre at 11:22 am local time.

During the mission, another satellite, Tiantuo-1, designed and built by the National University of Defence Technology, was also launched.

The two satellites were shot into orbit by the Long March-4B rocket, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The Yaogan-21 will be used for scientific experiments, natural resource survey, estimation of crop yield and disaster relief, while Tiantuo-1 is designed for smart satellite experiments.

The launch is the 193rd mission for China's Long March rocket family.