China launches Kuaizhou 11 rocket carrying CentiSpace satellites

China launched a Kuaizhou 11 carrier rocket on Thursday morning to deploy a group of privately developed satellites into space, according to China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp.

The rocket blasted off at 11:58 am from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center and successfully sent the CentiSpace 05 satellite group into their predetermined orbit, marking the sixth flight of the Kuaizhou 11 family and China's 45th space mission this year.

Developed by China Space Sanjiang Group, a subsidiary of CASIC based in Hubei province, the Kuaizhou 11 is 25 meters tall and has a diameter of 2.2 meters. With a liftoff weight of 78 metric tons, the rocket is capable of placing a 1-ton payload into a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 700 kilometers, or a 1.5-ton spacecraft into a typical low-Earth orbit.