Photo: People's Daily app/ Lu Xing

China's Gaofen-7 Earth observation satellite was successfully sent into space from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi Province on Sunday at around 11:22 a.m. BJT. 

According to China's State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND), the satellite will be used in updating maps, resource investigation, urban and rural planning, environmental protection and early warning of disasters.