In the 377th Long Marsh Series carrier missile mission, China sent a new satellite into planned orbit from the Jiuchyuan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China this morning.

China National Space Authority said that the FWI3 satellite was launched on board the Long March-4C carrier rocket at 7:28 a.m. (Beijing time).

The new 11-payload remote sensing satellite will be the world's first meteorological satellite for civil service at dawn and dusk.

It is eight years old and will primarily obtain atmospheric temperature, humidity and other meteorological parameters for numerical forecasting applications and improving China's atmospheric forecasting capacity.

It will also monitor global snow and ice cover, sea surface temperature, natural disasters and the environment to better respond to climate change and to prevent and mitigate meteorological disasters.

In addition, the satellite will monitor the solar and space environment and its effects, as well as ionosphere data, to meet space atmospheric forecasting needs and support services, according to Xinhua.

The satellite and rocket were developed by the Shanghai Space Flight Technology Academy, which operates under the supervision of China Space Science and Technology Corporation.