On August 27, 2015 at 02:31 UTC the “Long March – 4C” (“Changzheng-4C”) rocket-carrier was launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi Province. The rocket orbited the “Yaogan-27” satellite. The launch was not announced in advance by Chinese authorities, keeping with standard practice for Chinese military launches. Xinhua reported the satellite will be used “for experiments, land surveys, crop yield estimates and disaster prevention.” Some analysts believe the spacecraft is intended to operate as a military spy satellite.