TAIYUAN, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- China sent a new remote sensing satellite into space from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi Province at 2:31 a.m. Friday (Beijing Time).

The satellite, Gaofen-5 01A, was launched aboard a Long March-2D rocket and entered its planned orbit successfully.

The satellite will help improve the country's hyperspectral observation capacity in areas such as environmental protection, land, weather, agriculture, and disaster alleviation.