China launched a group of communications satellites from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Shanxi province on Saturday afternoon, placing the 13th batch of space-based assets of the Spacesail Constellation in orbit.

The satellites were carried by a Long March 6A rocket that blasted off at 5:30 pm and soon arrived in their predetermined orbital positions.

Funded and operated by the Shanghai-based State-owned satellite company Spacesail, the Spacesail Constellation will be used to provide high-speed, secure and reliable broadband internet services to global customers. The company plans to deploy more than 15,000 satellites in low-altitude orbits.

It is one of the two massive internet networks China is now working to construct in outer space.

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Designed and built by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, the Long March 6A rocket model is a new-generation medium-lift launch vehicle, consisting of a 50-meter, liquid-propelled core booster and four solid-fuel side boosters. The model has a liftoff weight of 530 metric tons and is tasked with transporting satellites to multiple types of orbit, including sun-synchronous, low-Earth and intermediate circular orbit.

Saturday's launch marked the 48th space mission in China this year and the 655th flight of the Long March rocket family.