Earlier on Sunday, a Long March 4C rocket was launched at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China's Gobi Desert to deploy an Earth-observation radar satellite.

The Land Surveyor 1-01B satellite soon entered a quasi-sun-synchronous orbit about 607 kilometers above the ground and will team up with its predecessor -- Land Surveyor 1-01A that was launched on Jan 26 – to use their L-band synthetic aperture radars to carry out round-the-clock, all-weather observation of ground areas.

The two-satellite system is tasked with providing data and images to land resources, disaster prevention and relief, mapping, and forestry authorities and will extensively strengthen the rapid response capability for major natural disasters, according to the space administration.