Rocket carries experimental satellite into space

China launched a Kuaizhou 1A carrier rocket on Thursday morning from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the country's northwestern Gobi Desert, sending an experimental satellite into space.

The solid-propellant rocket blasted off at 11:52 am from its launch vehicle and placed the Tianxing 1B satellite into its preset orbit, according to the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp, the State-owned space contractor that developed the rocket.

The company said in a news release that the satellite, made by the Shanghai-based Innovation Academy for Microsatellites of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is tasked with surveying the environment in outer space and conducting other technical tests.

Thursday's mission marked the 26th flight of the Kuaizhou 1A model since its initial launch in 2017 and the fourth liftoff of its type over the past 20 days, with the previous three launches used to transport a total of 12 Tianmu 1-series weather satellites into space.

Developed by the China Space Sanjiang Group, a CASIC subsidiary in Hubei province, the 20-meter Kuaizhou 1A has a liftoff weight of about 30 metric tons. It is capable of sending 200 kilograms of payload into a sun-synchronous orbit, or 300 kg of payload into a low-Earth orbit, according to its designers.