BEIJING, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- China's new communication satellite ChinaSat 18, sent into space on Monday, has experienced abnormalities, and space engineers are investigating the cause.

The ChinaSat 18 satellite was launched at 8:03 p.m. (Beijing Time) on a Long March-3B carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

The satellite separated with the carrier rocket as normal, but is now working abnormally.