China successfully launches 8th Yaogan satellite.

SHANGHAI, December 15 (Itar-Tass) - The 8th satellite of the Yaogan
series for the remote sensing of the Earth has been successfully launched
from the Taiyuan cosmodrome in the northern province of Shanxi on Tuesday.
The Yaogan-8 satellite was delivered to a near-Earth orbit by a
modified booster rocket, the Changzheng-4B (Great March). A smaller
satellite, the Xiwang-1 (Hope) was lofted into space simultaneously with
the Yaogan. The Xiwang has been built on public funds and is intended to
help young Chinese enthusiasts in the exploration of the near-Earth space.
Part of the onboard instrumentation has been designed by Chinese students
and schoolchildren.
China began to launch new-generation satellites of the Yaogan series
in 2006. They are intended for the gathering of data on the Earth's
natural resources, the environment, the condition of sown areas, as well
as for studies in the field of urban planning, and the conduct of
scientific experiments.
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