China successfully sent an ocean-observing satellite into space on Monday, a joint mission pursued under close Sino-French space cooperation that will enable scientists to simultaneously study, for the first time, ocean surface winds and waves.

The China-France Oceanography Satellite (CFOSat), atop a Long March-2C carrier rocket, took off at 8:43 a.m. from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's Gobi Desert and entered a sun-synchronous orbit 520 km above Earth.

Source: XINHUANET

Image credit: CNES - Artist's rendition of the deployed CFOSAT spacecraft in orbit

Related Missions:

• CFOSAT (Chinese-French Oceanography Satellite)