China launches second Olympic weather satellite

TAIYUAN, May 27 (Xinhua) -- China launched a second Olympic weather forecasting satellite, the Fengyun-3 (FY-3) Tuesday morning.

The satellite was launched on a Long March-4C carrier rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi Province at 11:02 a.m. (Beijing Time).

The 2,295-kilogram satellite will provide accurate and timely information about weather changes to facilitate more precise weather forecasts during the Beijing Olympic Games, said a China Meteorological Administration (CMA) official earlier this month.

Both the satellite and the rocket are developed by the Shanghai Academy of Space flight Technology affiliated to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

The launch was the 106th mission of China's Long March series of rockets.