China launched a mysterious spy satellite that will "monitor land, crop yield and natural disasters" but could also gather military intelligence, analysts think.
The Yaogan 33 (02) satellite lifted off atop China's Long March 4C rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert at 7:44 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 2, (2344 GMT, or 7:44 a.m. Beijing time on Sept. 3) in what was the east-Asia's space power's 35th successful launch this year.
The rocket blasted into the sky as distinctive colored exhaust patterns trailed below, with plumes of dust and orange-brown smoke billowing around the launch tower.
The U.S. Space Force picked up two new objects in orbit associated with the launch from Jiuquan: the new satellite in a 428 by 423 mile (688 by 680 kilometers) near-polar orbit and the upper stage of the Long March 4C orbiting with a lower perigee, or closer approach to Earth, of 306 miles (492 km).
Little is known about Yaogan 33, a new, classified series of remote sensing satellites. Chinese state-controlled media state (opens in new tab) that the spacecraft will be used for "science experiments, census of national land resources, crop yield estimation and disaster prevention."
Western space analysts suggest, however, that the Yaogan series satellites serve both civil and military users in China. Last month China launched new batches of Yaogan 35 satellites, which could be used for Earth observation tasks or signals intelligence gathering.
