BEIJING – China on Friday launched a new satellite to study space environment, local media reported. The experiment satellite was sent into planned orbit at around 07:01 a.m. local time (2301GMT Thursday) from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in China’s northern Shanxi province, according to broadcaster CGTN.

An indigenously-built Long March-4B carrier rocket was used to launch the third satellite of the Shiyan-6 series.

China had launched first two Shiyan-6 satellites using Long March-2D rocket in November 2018 and July 2020 with similar objectives.

The satellite is expected to carry out space environment survey and hold experiments on related technologies.

It was the 365th launch by the Long March rocket series. The Long March-4B rocket is capable of launching various types of satellites to different orbits, and can launch multiple satellites in a single flight.