China has successfully launched the country's first Long March-6 carrier rocket as well as 20 satellites on Sunday.

The Long March-6 carrier rocket lifts off from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre in north China's Shanxi Province at 7 a.m. Beijing time on September 20, 2015. [Photo: Xinhua]

China Central Television (CCTV) reports that the carrier rocket lifted off from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre in north China's Shanxi Province at 7 a.m. Beijing time.

The 20 satellites, including nine amateur radio satellites, were developed by a number of universities and space research institutes across China.

The satellites separated from the rocket 15 minutes after blasting off from Taiyuan.

The Long March-6 carrier rocket is the country's new generation of rocket families, featuring light capacity and high-speed response.

Developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, the liquid-fuelled carrier rocket has only a modest lift capability of some 1080 kg.

However, the launch is crucial to China's new heavy-lift Long March-5 carrier rocket, an equivalent to the US-made Delta-IV Heavy.

The Long March-5 is set to boost its lift capacity by around three times and will be used to launch modules for the country's lunar project and space station.

The Long March-5 is scheduled to make its debut flight early next year.

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