BEIJING, May 2 (Xinhuanet) -- China has launched the "Zhongxing-11" communications satellite from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China’s Sichuan Province.

The satellite was launched using a Long March-3B rocket at 6 minutes past midnight Beijing time on Thursday. It marked the 176th launch of China’s Long March series of rockets. Zhongxing-11 has a lift-off mass of around 5,000 kilograms and a design lifetime over 15 years.

The satellite is based on the DFH-4 platform manufactured by the China Academy of Space Technology and features multiple high power fixed and mobile beams and transponder switching capability. It will provide services for commercial broadcasting and communications, meeting the needs of Direct-to-Home, data transmission, digital broadband multimedia and streaming media for clients in the Asia-Pacific region.

(Source: CNTV.cn)