Long March rocket sends 9 satellites into orbit from sea

China launched nine satellites on Tuesday with a Long March 11 solid-propellant carrier rocket that blasted off from a ship in the Yellow Sea, achieving the country's first commercial launch at sea.

The Long March 11-HY2－the 10th in the Long March 11 family－roared to life at 9:23 am from the Debo 3, a self-propelled deck barge that was modified for the mission, and soon thrust into the sky.

After flying about 13 minutes, the rocket deployed nine Jilin 1 high-resolution Earth-observation satellites－three to take video footage and six to take photos－into a sun-synchronous orbit 535 kilometers above the ground.