China to launch satellite for Venezuela

The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) has signed an agreement with Venezuela for in-orbit delivery of a second remote sensing satellite for the country, the company said on Tuesday.[Special coverage]

CASC subsidiary Great Wall Industry Corporation will be the major contractor of the project, the corporation said.

But the corporation did not give a specific timeframe for the project.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is on a four-nation Latin America tour, told his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro Sunday in Caracas that China is ready to expand satellite technology transfer to Venezuela.

China sent a remote sensing satellite, the "VRSS-1," into space from northwest China's Gobi desert for Venezuela in 2012.

VRSS-1 is Venezuela's first remote sensing satellite and is mainly used for the country's land resource inspections, environmental protection, disaster detection and management, crop yield estimation and city planning.