China sends 22 satellites into space

Beijing: China launched a Long March-8 rocket to place 22 satellites in space on Sunday, setting a domestic record for the most spacecraft launched by a single rocket.

The rocket blasted off at 11:06 am (Beijing Time) at the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in the southern Hainan Province before sending the satellites into preset orbits.

These satellites will be mainly used for commercial remote sensing services, marine environment monitoring, forest fire prevention and disaster mitigation.

The mission marked the 409th flight of the Long March carrier rockets.