XICHANG, March 10 (China Space News) -- With a Long March-3B rocket putting a new communications satellite into orbit on Sunday, China's Long March carrier rocket series completed 300 launches, having sent more than 500 spacecraft into space since 1970.

"This is a milestone for China's space industry development," said Wu Yansheng, board chairman of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC).

The Long March carrier rocket series, developed by CASC, is responsible for about 96.4 percent of all the launch missions in China.

It took 37 years for the Long March rockets to complete the first 100 launches, 7.5 years to complete the second 100 launches, and only about four years to accomplish the final 100, with the average number of launches per year increasing from 2.7 to 13.3 and then to 23.5.

The success rate of the 300 launches of the Long March rockets stood at 96 percent.

During the third 100 launches, the Long March rockets sent a total of 225 spacecraft, weighing about 240 tonnes, into space, with a success rate of 97 percent, reaching a high level in the world.

From October 1996 to August 2011, the Long March rockets set a world record for 15 years of successful consecutive launches.

In 2018, the Long March rockets completed 37 consecutive successful launches, ranking a global first for highest number of successful launches.