JIUQUAN, March 17 (Xinhua) -- China launched a land exploration satellite into a preset orbit from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi desert of the country's northwest at 3:10 p.m. Saturday.

The satellite is the fourth of its kind and mainly used for exploration of land resources by remote sensing.

A Long March-2D rocket carried the satellite into space.

The launch was the 268th mission of the Long March rocket series.