TAIYUAN -- Five new remote-sensing satellites were sent into planned orbit from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in North China's Shanxi province Wednesday.

The five Ningxia-1 satellites were launched by a Long March-6 carrier rocket at 2:35 pm (Beijing Time).

The satellites are part of a commercial satellite project invested by the Ningxia Jingui Information Technology Co Ltd and will be mainly used for remote sensing detection.

The satellites and carrier rocket were developed by the DFH Satellite Co Ltd and the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology.

Wednesday's launch was the 318th mission for the Long March series carrier rockets.