WENCHANG, Hainan - China on Saturday successfully sent a new satellite into space from the Wenchang Space Launch Site on the coast of southern island province of Hainan.

The satellite, Zhongxing-3A, was launched at 7:57 pm (Beijing Time) by a modified version of the Long March-7 carrier rocket and entered the planned orbit successfully.

Designed as a communication and broadcasting satellite, the satellite will provide voice, data, radio and television transmission services.

This marks the 526th mission for the Long March series carrier rockets.