Yaogan 36

Yaogan is a series of Earth remote sensing satellites for China.

State media report the satellites are scientific in nature and are used for land survey, agriculture monitoring, and disaster response.

Western nations believe the Yaogan sats are SIGINT, or Signals Intelligence, satellites to monitor shipping and radio communications for the military.

All Yaogan satellites have so far been launched in groups of three into 500 km orbits.

Part of the overall Chang Zheng 2 rocket family, the 2D variant is a two-stage to orbit vehicle used to launch satellites into either Low Earth Orbit or Sun Synchronous Orbit.

It launched for the first time in 1992 and has flown more than 40 times.

It has only suffered one partial failure in its career.

Stats
Height: 41 m / 134.7 ft
Diameter: 3.35 m / 11 ft
Launch mass: 232,250 kg / 512,020 lb

Payload to LEO: 3,500 kg / 7,700 lb
Payload to SSO: 1,300 kg / 2,900 lb

Stage 1
Length: 27.9 m / 91.5 ft
Engines: 4 x YF-21C
Thrust: 2,961 kN / 665,800 lbf
Fuel: Nitrogen Tetroxide / Unsymmetrical Dimethylhydrazine

Stage 2
Length: 10.9 m / 35.7 ft
Engines: 1 x YF-24C
Thrust: 742.04 kN / 166,820 lbf (main); 47.1 kn / 10,600 lbf (verniers)
Fuel: Nitrogen Tetroxide / Unsymmetrical Dimethylhydrazine

Launch Complex 3

LC-3 is one of two launch areas at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.

The pad was completely rebuilt and upgraded between 2005 to 2006 for China's lunar exploration program.

It can currently launch the Chang Zheng 2, 2C, 3 and 3B rockets.

Xichang Satellite Launch Center

The center was built in the early 1980s and takes its name from the closest major city, Xichang, Sichuan Province, People's Republic of China.

The space center is used to launch international scientific, civilian, and military satellites.

Xichang is not without controversy. In 1996, it was the site of a deadly launch accident when a rocket flew off course and crashed into an un-evacuated village 1.2 km away.

In 2007, it was used to launch an anti-satellite missile test which destroyed a satellite in low Earth orbit. The test created thousands of pieces of debris that were very hard to track and was criticized for the danger it potentially placed the crew of the International Space Station in.