China launches medium-lift Long March-7A carrier rocket

WENCHANG, Hainan -- China launched its Long March-7A Y2 carrier rocket on Friday from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's island province of Hainan.

The rocket blasted off at 1:51 am (Beijing Time) from the launch site, sending an experimental satellite into the planned orbit.

The satellite will be mainly used for in-orbit tests of new technologies including space environment monitoring.

A modified version of the Long March-7 rocket, the launch vehicle represents the new generation of China's medium-sized high-orbit rocket. It has a carrying capacity of at least 7 tonnes for the geosynchronous orbit.

This was the 362nd flight mission of the Long March rocket series.