BEIJING — China orbited the remote sensing satellite Yaogan 5 from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center Dec. 15, marking the country’s second remote sensing satellite to be launched this month. “Yaogan” means “remote sensing.” The stated purpose of the satellite is the collection of data for land resource surveys, environmental surveillance and protection, urban planning, crop yields, disaster management and space experiments. Yaogan 4 was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center earlier this month.

Chinese airlines show little sign of heeding the civil aviation administration’s call for them to cancel or defer 2009 aircraft deliveries. The industry seems more likely to trim capacity by retiring old aircraft and by declining to renew leases. Both measures were also part of a policy that the administration issued this month to reign in overcapacity in the industry, but since both are only normal airline responses to weak demand it seems that the high-profile announcement will have little influence on fleet sizes.

IHI Corp. will offer an independently developed regional jet turbofan in the next decade, according to plans that envisage Japan following China in trying to break into the civil aero-engine market. After decades of developing expertise in major components of U.S. and British engines, the Japanese manufacturer is pushing to get into the front rank of an industry that has always been dominated by Western companies.