China successfully launched a new remote sensing satellite from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province on Wednesday. A Long March-2D rocket, carrying the Yaogan-42 01 satellite, blasted off at 6:56 a.m. and sent the satellite into its designated orbit. The launch signifies the 515th mission for the Long March carrier rocket series.

China's Long March-2D is a robust two-stage liquid-propellant carrier rocket with a liftoff thrust of 300 tonnes. The rocket is designed to launch single and multiple satellites to various orbits from the country's three major satellite launch centers in Jiuquan, Taiyuan and Xichang. With its advanced capabilities, it can deliver 1.3-tonne payloads to a sun-synchronous orbit 700 kilometers above Earth.