A Long March-4B rocket carrying the HY-2B satellite took off at 6:57 a.m. on Thursday from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi Province. The HY-2B is an ocean dynamic satellite, which will form a network with the subsequent HY-2C and HY-2D for maritime environmental monitoring. Thursday's launch was the 288th by the Long March rocket series.