ANKARA

China on Sunday launched a Long March-2D carrier rocket, carrying a remote sensing satellite into space.

The rocket carrying the Yaogan-39 satellite blasted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province, Beijing-based Xinhua News reported.

It was the 500th flight mission of the Long March rocket series.

Last week, China launched a satellite into space from the South China Sea to test internet technologies, marking the “first-ever” space launch mission in the contested waterway.