Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

China successfully put its Earth Resources Satellite, the ZY-1, into the orbit on October 14 with a Chinese Long March 4-B rocket that blasted off at 11:16 am ( Beijing time) from the Taiyuan Launching Center in North China's Shanxi Province.

The satellite, a joint production of China and Brazil, is designed to gather terrestrial information on the environment, agriculture and urban planning.

A smaller Brazil-made scientific experiment satellite was also carried into space on the flight.

The ZY-1 satellite weighs 1,540 kilograms and is expected to function for about two years.

While in operation, the satellite will provide remote sensing image and data to China, Brazil and other countries with the ability to receive them.

The launch was the 58th use of the Long March carrier. Since October 1996, the carrier has put 25 domestic and foreign satellites into the orbit. (Xinhua)