Year in review: China's major scientific and infrastructure achievements

First rocket launch at sea a success

China carried out its first seaborne space launch in its territorial waters in the Yellow Sea on June 5, opening a new chapter in its space industry.

A Long March 11 solid-propellant carrier rocket blasted off at 12:06 pm from a mobile launch platform - a modified submersible craft - off Shandong province, sending seven satellites into an orbit nearly 600 kilometers above Earth.

The mission - the world's first seaborne space launch in the past five years - showed China's possession of technologies and capabilities required for such an operation and also indicated the country has found an alternative to its ground-based launch centers.