China launched Sunday morning a Long March-4B rocket to place a new meteorological satellite in space, Xinhua reported. The rocket blasted off at 9:36 a.m. (Beijing time) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China, and soon after sent the Fengyun-3 07 satellite into its preset orbit. The satellite will provide services for weather forecasting, disaster prevention and mitigation, climate change response and ecological conservation. The mission marked the 471st flight of the Long March carrier rockets, according to the launch center. China launched the weather satellite after setting a no-fly zone and banning the navigation of ships in airspace and waters north of Taiwan close to the Tokyo-controlled, Beijing-claimed Senkaku Islands. The China Meteorological Administration said Saturday on its Weibo account, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, that meteorological satellite FY-3G will be launched in the morning of the following day. State-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. had previously said it would send into orbit a precipitation measurement satellite in mid-April. The development came amid heightened cross-strait tensions with the Chinese military conducting drills near Taiwan following talks earlier this month in California between the island's President Tsai Ing-wen and US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Friday that Beijing issued prior notices on the possible impact of the country's "space activities" to ensure aviation safety. The zone in which ships were banned included part of Japan's exclusive economic zone near the Senkakus in the East China Sea. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Friday that Tokyo had urged Beijing to ensure the safety of Japanese vessels operating near the area. The no-fly area covered many international flight routes, linking such destinations as Japan, South Korea and the United States, according to Taiwan's Defense Ministry. — Agencies
