Secretive Chinese launch sends two remote sensing satellites into orbit

China added to its Earth observation capabilities with the clandestine launch of two satellites from Taiyuan late Saturday. The unexpected launch of a Long March 4B rocket carrying satellites HJ-2A (Huanjing-2A) and HJ-2B took place at 11:23 p.m. Eastern Saturday. While Chinese launches are rarely publicly announced ahead of time, the publishing of airspace closures usually provides a few days of notice. No notices were apparently issued ahead of the launch. More

(Source: SpaceNews - Sep 28)