TAIYUAN, June 20 -- China on Tuesday launched a Long March-6 carrier rocket to place a new experiment satellite in space.

The rocket carrying the Shiyan-25 experiment satellite lifted off at 11:18 a.m. (Beijing Time) from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in the northern province of Shanxi. The satellite successfully entered the preset orbit.

This satellite will mainly be used to carry out new Earth-observation technology experiments.

The Long March-6 carrier rocket was developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, a China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation subsidiary.

Fueled by liquid propellant, the three-stage rocket has a carrying capacity of one tonne for a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of about 700 kilometers.

It is capable of sending a single satellite or a group of satellites of various types into space.

This was the 477th flight mission of the Long March rocket series.