BEIJING - China today launched a satellite from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, which is carrying 215 kilograms of seeds of plants and fungus, Xinhua reports. The seed-breeding satellite called "Shijian-8" is apparently designed to test how space-enhanced produce can increase the efficiency of the country's food production.
The Shijian-8 was launched aboard a Long March 2C rocket. China National Space Administration informed that the mission was to enable scientists to figure out a process to cultivate "high-yield and high-quality plants."
This was the 23rd recoverable satellite launched by China, but the first to experiment with seeds. China has been testing methods to increase yield with space-enhanced seeds, after initial experiments showed rice and wheat exposed to space increasing their yields dramatically.
The Space-breeding Center of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science said that once the seeds are recovered they will be turned over to the Ministry of Agriculture, which in turn will distribute them to various research institutes to conduct specific experiments.
