BEIJING, August 21. /TASS/. China has successfully launched the Gaofen-12-04 Earth observation satellite, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) said on Monday.

CASC said on the WeChat social network that the satellite was carried into orbit with the help of a CZ-4C at 1:45 a.m. Beijing time on Monday (9:45 p.m. Moscow time on Sunday) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in north China to become the 484th launch.

Data from the Gaofen-12 04 satellite will be used in road network design, crop yield estimation, and natural disaster warning.

Beijing has been actively developing its national space program, as it works on meteorological, telecoms and navigation satellites as well as Moon exploration technology. In parallel, Chinese experts are working on a project to explore asteroids and Mars. Also, the country has completed building a Chinese space station that is open to international cooperation.

In 2022, China carried out 64 launches, breaking its own record, and came second after the United States.