China launched two new groups of remote sensing satellites from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the country's northwest on Thursday.

The satellites of the Yaogan-53 and Yaogan-56 groups were launched at 5:00 p.m. (Beijing Time) aboard a Long March-4B carrier rocket, and entered the preset orbits successfully.

They are primarily used for scientific experiments, land and resources surveys, crop yield estimation, and disaster prevention and reduction.

The launch marked the 666th mission of the Long March carrier rockets.