A Long March 3A carrier rocket , carrying "Zhongxing-20A" communication satellite, blasts off at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Xichang, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 25, 2010. The satellite was successfully put in the predetermined orbit on Nov. 25. [Xinhua]

China successfully launched a communications satellite, "Zhongxing-20A", at 12:09 AM Thursday from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

"Zhongxing-20A" would help improve the country's radio and television broadcasts, said a statement from the center.

The satellite was sent by a Long March 3A rocket into the preset orbit.

It was the 135th launch of China's Long March series of rockets since April 24, 1970, when a Long March-1 rocket successfully sent China's first satellite, Dongfanghong-1, into space.

(Xinhua News Agency November 25, 2010)