China launches new meteorological satellite

China sent a new meteorological satellite into planned orbit from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in Sichuan Province on Thursday morning, China’s Xinhua News Agency reported.

The satellite, Fengyun-4B (FY-4B), was launched by a Long March-3B rocket at 12:17 am (Beijing Time). It was the 372nd flight mission of the Long March rocket series, said the launch centre.

As the first of China’s new-generation meteorological satellites in geostationary orbit, the FY-4B will be used in the fields of weather analysis and forecasting, and environmental and disaster monitoring.