China used the Long March 1 rocket to launch its first satellite, Dong Fang Hong 1 ("The East is Red 1"), into low Earth orbit on April 24, 1970. (Photo provided by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation)
With a Long March 3B rocket putting a new communications satellite into orbit on March 10, the carrier rocket series completed 300 launches, having sent more than 500 spacecraft into space since 1970.
On Oct. 15, 2003, the Long March 2F rocket successfully launched the Shenzhou 5 spacecraft, carrying China's first astronaut Yang Liwei into space. (Photo provided by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation)
On Jun. 1, 2007, Long March rockets completed their 100th launch, sending a communications satellite into orbit. (Photo provided by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation)
On Oct. 24, 2007, the Long March 3A successfully launched the "Chang'e 1" lunar orbiting spacecraft from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. (Photo provided by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation)
On Feb. 7, 2014, a Long March 4B rocket put the China-Brazil earth resources satellite into operation, the 200th launch of the Long March rocket series. (Photo provided by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation)
A new model of China's carrier rocket Long March 6 carrying 20 micro-satellites blasts off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Taiyuan, the capital of north China's Shanxi Province, Sept. 20, 2015. (Photo provided by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation)
A Long March 7 carrier rocket lifts off from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center in south China's Hainan Province, Jun. 25, 2016. (Photo provided by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation)
On April 20, 2017, A Long March 7 Y2 carrier rocket arrived at a launch center in south China in preparation for the launch of China's first cargo spacecraft Tianzhou 1. (Photo provided by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation)
China launched six satellites, including two commercial satellites, with a Long March 11 rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on Jan. 19, 2019. (Photo provided by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation)
China sent two new satellites of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) into space on a Long March 3B carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province on Nov. 19, 2018. (Photo provided by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation)
