China's commercial rocket SD-3 launches 7 satellites from sea

YANGJIANG, Guangdong -- China on Thursday launched a Smart Dragon-3 (SD-3) carrier rocket from the sea, sending seven satellites into planned orbits.

The SD-3 commercial rocket blasted off at 2:37 pm (Beijing Time) from waters off the coast of Yangjiang in South China's Guangdong province. The seven satellites include Pakistan's PRSC-EO2 satellite.

The offshore launch mission was carried out by the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center.