On May 22, 2019 at 22:49 UTC (on May 23 by Beijing time) the “Long March – 4C” (“Changzheng-4C”) rocket-carrier was launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi Province. The rocket was to orbit the “Yaogan-33” top secret military satellite. China’s official Xinhua news agency reported that the rocket’s third stage failed during the climb into space after the launch from Taiyuan. The satellites of the “Yaogan” series include satellites carrying Earth-facing optical telescopes and radar imagers to collect high-resolution imagery for the Chinese military and intelligence agencies.