China on Saturday recovered its 19th recoverable sci-tech experimental satellite 27 days after the satellite orbited in space.

The satellite, which was launched on Aug. 29 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu Province, northwest China, touched the ground at 7:55 a.m. Saturday.

Compared with the previous recoverable satellites China has launched, this one has been improved in experimental technology, which requires higher controlling precision and more complicated calculating process, according to the Xi'an Satellite Monitor and Control Center based in the capital city of Shaanxi Province.

The satellite, atop a Long March 2C carrier rocket, is mainly for space scientific research, land surveying, mapping and other scientific experiments, said space officials.

China launched its first recoverable satellite in 1975.

Last October, China became the third nation to send a man in space when a single astronaut orbited the Earth 14 times. In July this year, China launched a probe as part of a program with Europe aimed at improving monitoring of magnetic storms and other space hazards. 

(Xinhua News Agency September 25, 2004)