China launches weather satellite after civilian flights divert routes to avoid Beijing's no-fly zone over Taiwan

Beijing: After multiple commercial flights diverted their routes to avoid a Chinese-imposed no-fly zone over Taiwan, Beijing launched a weather satellite on Sunday to tackle the problem. Weather satellite Fengyun 3G was successfully launched from the northwestern province of Gansu at 9:36 am on Sunday, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation said. The satellite then entered its set orbit, the contractor said, describing the launch as a “complete success”. The Fengyun 3G is a low-earth orbit satellite designed to track rainfall. According to Taiwan News, China’s Fujian Maritime Safety Administration issued a navigation warning on Thursday saying “there may be falling rocket wreckage” between 9 am to 3 pm on 16 April. After announcing a no-fly zone around Taiwan from April 16 to 18, China will launch a vehicle identified as the Long March 4B . For the purpose of the launch, Beijing has also extended the no-fly zone period by six hours over concerns about falling debris. On Wednesday, Duan Dang, a Vietnamese military analyst, said that the purpose of setting up the no-fly zone is to set up a launch from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The restrictions have been protested by authorities in  Taiwan  who say that the ban would affect 60 to 70 per cent of flights going between Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia, as well as flights between Taiwan and South Korea, Japan and North America. Taiwan’s Civil Aeronautics Administration said in a one-hour period starting from 9 am (0100 GMT) 33 flights had to alter their routes, adding an extra five to 10 minutes of flying time. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.