The Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST), another CASC owned entity, developed the Long March 2D launch vehicle.

The launch was the 17th for China in 2017, and the ninth since late September. The country was aiming to launch around 30 times this year, but two launch issues in June and July - most notably the failure of the new Long March 5 heavy-lift rocket - brought a halt to all launches for 89 days.

China's overall record for Long March rocket launches now stands at 259, with the first taking place on April 24, 1970. Of these, 245 have been successful, with eight failures and six partial failures, with a success rate of 94.6 percent.

Quelle: gbtimes

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China launches land exploration satellite

China launches a land exploration satellite into a preset orbit from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi desert, northwest China's Gansu Province, Dec. 23, 2017. The satellite is mainly used for remote sensing exploration of land resources. A Long March-2D rocket carried the satellite into space. (Xinhua/Zhen Zhe)

JIUQUAN, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- China launched a land exploration satellite into a preset orbit from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi desert at 12:14 p.m. Saturday Beijing Time.

The satellite is mainly used for remote sensing exploration of land resources.

A Long March-2D rocket carried the satellite into space.

The launch was the 259th mission of the Long March rocket series. 

China launches a land exploration satellite into a preset orbit from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi desert, northwest China's Gansu Province, Dec. 23, 2017. The satellite is mainly used for remote sensing exploration of land resources. A Long March-2D rocket carried the satellite into space. (Xinhua/Zhen Zhe)

Quelle: Xinhua