China launched a satellite into planned orbit on April 9 for space environment study. The satellite was carried by a Long March-4B rocket departing from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in North China's Shanxi province.

The satellite, the third of the Shiyan-6 series, was launched at 7:01 am. It will be used to carry out space environment survey and experiments on related technologies.

The first and second Shiyan-6 satellites were both launched by China's Long March-2D rocket, in November 2018 and July 2020 respectively, for similar objectives.

The Long March-4B carrier rocket is a three-stage carrier rocket powered with liquid fuel under normal temperature.

The rocket is capable of launching various types of satellites to different orbits, and can launch multiple satellites in single flight. It can carry a payload of up to 2.5 metric tons to a sun-synchronous circular orbit.

The launch on April 9 was the 365th by the Long March rocket series.