XICHANG -- China sent a new satellite of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) into space from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province at 1:43 am Tuesday.

Launched on a Long March-3B carrier rocket, it is the 49th satellite of the BDS satellite family and the 24th satellite of the BDS-3 system.

It also marked that a total of three BDS-3 satellites have been sent into the inclined geosynchronous Earth orbit.

The launch was the 317th mission for the Long March series of carrier rockets.

The new satellites and the carrier rocket were developed by the China Academy of Space Technology and the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

China will launch another six BDS-3 satellites to complete the BDS global network.