China launched a Long March 4B carrier rocket on Thursday afternoon to send a remote-sensing satellite into orbit, according to China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp.

The State-owned space contractor said in a news release that the rocket blasted off at 12:12 pm at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China's Gobi Desert and transported the Shijian 26 satellite into its preset orbit.

The Shijian 26 satellite was jointly developed by the Harbin Institute of Technology, Aerospace Dongfanghong, a subsidiary of the China Academy of Space Technology, and the Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It is mainly used in fields such as land survey and environmental protection and providing information services for economic development, according to the company.