UPDATE - Beijing launches its 1st satellite from South China Sea

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By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) - China on Wednesday launched a new satellite into space from the South China Sea to test internet technologies.

It marked the “first-ever” space launch mission in the South China Sea, Beijing-based China Daily reported.

Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in the city of Yangjiang in the southern Guangdong province launched the Smart Dragon-3 (SD-3) rocket carrying the CX-19 satellite into planned orbit to test satellite internet technologies.

The satellite, designed and built by the Shanghai-based Innovation Academy for Microsatellites of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was launched at around 3.24 a.m. (1924GMT).

It was the second mission of the Smart Dragon-3 carrier rocket series. The first one was made in December last year when it launched 14 satellites into space.