China launches new mystery Shiyan satellite

China launched the latest in its secretive Shiyan satellite series over the weekend. A Long March 4C rocket lifted off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert, northwest China, at 7:43 p.m.EDT on May 11 (2343 GMT, or 7:43 a.m. Beijing time on May 12). Chinese authorities revealed the mission payload to be Shiyan-23 once launch was declared to be successful. Chinese authorities provided no images of the satellite. The only description of the spacecraft states that Shiyan-23 will be used for space environment monitoring. More

(Source: Space.com - May 18)