A Long March-3A carrier rocket carrying the "Beidou," or Compass, navigation satellite took off at 4:47 a.m. Sunday from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province.
It will join seven other satellites already in orbit to form a network which will eventually consist of more than 30 satellites.
The launching of the satellite marks the establishment of a basic system for the navigation and positioning network, said an unidentified spokesperson for the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.
China will launch more satellites within the coming two years to finish a regional network to provide navigation services with high precision and credibility for industries and sectors such as mapping, fishery, transportation, meteorology and telecommunication, in the Asia-Pacific regions, the spokesperson said.
The network is scheduled to be able to provide global services by 2020.