JIUQUAN - China sent the Yaogan-24 remote sensing satellite into a scheduled orbit at 3:12 pm on Thursday from the Jiuquan satellite launch center.

Yaogan satellites will mainly be used for scientific experiments, natural resource surveys, crop yield estimates and disaster relief.

The Yaogan-24 was carried by a Long March-2D rocket, the 199th mission for the Long March rocket family.

China launched the first satellite in the "Yaogan" series, Yaogan-1, in 2006.