JIUQUAN, Jan. 9 -- China on Monday launched the CERES-1 Y5 carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.

The commercial rocket blasted off at 1:04 p.m. (Beijing Time) from the launch site, sending five satellites into the planned orbit.

The five satellites include the Tianqi-13 satellite belonging to the Tianqi constellation, two satellites belonging to the Tianmu-1 meteorological constellation, and the other two for Earth observation and space science popularization, respectively.

Developed by the Beijing-based high-tech company Galactic Energy, the CERES-1 is a small-scale solid-propellant carrier rocket capable of sending micro-satellites into orbit.

The launch was the fifth flight mission of the CERES-1 rocket series.