ANKARA

China on Tuesday successfully launched the 15th group of low-orbit internet satellites, marking another step in the country’s expanding space-based communications network, according to state-run media.

The satellites were carried into their designated orbit aboard a Long March-6A rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Shanxi province, the Global Times reported.

On Saturday, China launched the 14th group of internet satellites into space aboard a Long March-8A carrier rocket, which was successfully placed into the preset orbit.

The Long March-8A rocket, which made its first flight in February of this year, can carry up to 7 tons to a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 700 kilometers (434.9 miles).