Yaogan 53 & 56

A Long March 4B put six Yaogan satellites into orbit, three from the Yaogan 53 group and three from Yaogan 56. China describes Yaogan satellites as remote-sensing craft for land surveys, crop estimates and disaster relief; Western analysts regard the series as military reconnaissance satellites.

The flight came six weeks after another Long March 4B carried a matching set of three Yaogan 53 and three Yaogan 56 satellites from the same Jiuquan pad.