Jun.15 (China Military News cited from Xinhua) -- China has successfully put a scientific research satellite into orbit from the Jiuquan satellite Launch Center in northwestern Gansu Province, a source with the center said today.

The China-developed Long March 2D rocket will carry the satellite, "Shijian XII," into space, the source said.

According to a 2006 white paper, China's "Shijian" series of satellites are for scientific research and technological experiments.

In Chinese, the word "shijian" is equivalent to the English word "practice."

China has launched two "Shijian" satellites in 2008 and 2009.