Venezuela seeks observation satellite in five years

CARACAS (Reuters) - Washington-foe Venezuela plans to launch an observation satellite within five years to map its territory, President Hugo Chavez said on Sunday.

Venezuela's first satellite, named after independence hero Simon Bolivar, is for broadcast and telecommunications purposes and is due to be launched from China in November, Chavez said.

But major oil explorer Venezuela is seeking to build a second satellite to help map the vast South American country, Chavez said on his weekly television show.

"Who has got great multicolored maps of Venezuela? The Yankees," he said. "Now we are going to have our own. We have to get ready to launch the second satellite, which should be for observation, for images."

Chavez, who seeks to limit his country's dependence on its number one trade partner, the United States, said the satellite was needed to help plan everything from agriculture to military needs. He did not say if he would use the technology to keep an eye on other countries.

Officials said the new satellite would be built in Venezuela but would likely be launched from China in 2013.

The Simon Bolivar will be used to expand the reach of the Venezuela-funded news network Telesur and reduce the cost of frequent state-television live links to speeches by Chavez and other official events.

(Reporting by Frank Jack Daniel; editing by Todd Eastham)