Watch: China launches satellite to improve ocean remote sensing capability

China sent a new marine satellite into orbit on Friday to help improve understanding of maritime waters and climate change.

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A Long March-2C rocket carrying the HY-1C satellite blasted off at 11:15 from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi Province.

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The satellite HY-1C will help monitor ocean color and water temperatures, providing basic data for research on the global oceanic environment, according to the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense.

"HY-1C carries UV imaging system, Calibration Remote Sensor and Automatic Ship Identification System, and we improved the ocean color and temperature scanner to 24-hour imaging, to get more data," said Wang Lili, the chief designer of the satellite.

Its data will also be used in the survey of the resources and environment of China's offshore waters, islands and coastal zones, marine disaster relief and the sustainable utilization of ocean resources, said the administration.

China launched its first marine satellite, HY-1A, in May 2002, laying the foundation for an ocean monitoring system. Then the HY-1B satellite was launched in April 2007. Compared with HY-1A and HY-1B, HY-1C performs much better in observation accuracy and scale, and service life.

HY-1C is expected to improve China's ocean remote sensing capability, along with HY-1D, which is planned to be launched in 2019. Friday's launch was the 284th by the Long March rocket series.