The satellite, atop a Long March 2C carrier rocket, blasted off mid-afternoon from the Jiuquan launch center in northwestern Gansu province, the Xinhua news agency reported.

The satellite, which will remain in orbit for just a few days before returning to Earth, will be used for land surveying, mapping and other scientific experiments, the agency said.

China became the third country after the United States and the former Soviet Union to achieve manned space flight in October last year, when astronaut Yang Liwei orbited the Earth 14 times.

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