China successfully sent a cartographic satellite into space from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in northern China's Shanxi Province on Wednesday.

The satellite, Tianhui-5, on board a modified version of the Long March-6 carrier rocket, was launched at 6:50 a.m. Beijing Time, and has entered the preset orbit.

The satellite will mainly undertake tasks including geographic information mapping, land resource survey and scientific experiments.

The rocket has a carrying capacity of more than 4.5 tonnes to a 700-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit. It is expected to meet the diversified and intensive launch needs in the future.

Wednesday's launch marks the 494th mission for the Long March carrier rocket family.