Experimental satellite launched from Xichang center

China launched an experimental satellite into space on Thursday afternoon using a Long March 4C carrier rocket, according to China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp.

The rocket lifted off at 5:35 pm from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province and placed the Shiyan 28B01 satellite into its preset orbit, the State-owned space contractor said in a news release.

The satellite, designed and built by the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites under the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shanghai, will measure and survey space environmental elements and test new technologies.

To date, the academy has built and deployed 174 satellites for communications, navigation, remote sensing and scientific purposes.

The Long March 4C, developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, a CASC subsidiary, has a liftoff weight of 250 metric tons and is mainly used to send satellites into sun-synchronous orbit. It can carry satellites with a combined weight of 3 metric tons to an orbit 700 kilometers above Earth.

Thursday's mission marked China's 37th rocket launch this year and the 583rd flight of the Long March rocket family.