China launches second batch of Yunhai-2 satellites

HELSINKI — China has launched a new batch of Yunhai-2 meteorological satellites likely for use by its military. A Long March 2D with a Yuanzheng-3 upper stage rocket lifted off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert at 1:27 a.m. Eastern (0527 UTC) March 21. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC), confirmed launch success around three hours later, also revealing the payloads for the mission to be the Yunhai-2 (02) batch of satellites. The satellites were likely released into a series of orbits following a series of burns by the YZ-3 upper stage. The launch follows…