China launches new carrier rocket

JIUQUAN, April 2 (Xinhua) -- A new carrier rocket made its maiden flight in China on Sunday, sending a satellite into its planned orbit.

The rocket is known as TL-2 Y1 and blasted off at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at 4:48 p.m. (Beijing Time).

The flight will verify the overall program of the rocket and the coordination between the systems and obtain the parameters of the flight environment.

The satellite will be used in remote sensing imaging experiments and other technical verifications.