China has sent a remote sensing satellite, the "VRSS-1,"
into space from northwest China's Gobi dessert for Venezuela, the Jiuquan
Satellite Launch Center said in a statement. The launch, at noon Saturday, marks China's first in-orbit delivery of a remote sensing satellite to an international customer, it said. According to the statement, VRSS-1 is Venezuela's first remote sensing satellite, and it will be mainly used for the country's land resources inspections, environmental protection, disaster detection and management, crop yield estimation and city plans. China's Long March-2D carrier rocket, designed by China Aerospace and Technology Corporation, was used for the launch, the statement said. The success of the launch will promote China's development in new fields, including remote sensing satellites, carrier rockets, image processing and other relevant industries, the statement said. In 2008, China launched Venezuela's first satellite -- the Venesat-1, or "Simon Bolivar" -- to carry communications facilities. Venesat-1, which was a jointly built telecommunication satellite, made Venezuela the fourth Latin American country to own a satellite after Mexico, Brazil and Argentina.
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