China launches heaviest satellite to test key technologies

Long March-5 Y3 blasts off from Wenchang Space Launch Center in south China's Hainan Province, Dec. 27, 2019. The rocket, coded as Long March-5 Y3, blasted off from the coastal launch center at 8:45 p.m. (Beijing time), carrying the Shijian-20 technological experiment satellite weighing over eight tonnes, the heaviest and most advanced communications satellite of the country. About 2,220 seconds later, the satellite was sent into its planned orbit. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua)