China launched a Long March 2D carrier rocket on Monday morning, kicking off the country's space program for 2022.

The rocket blasted off at 10:35 am at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in northern China's Shanxi province and soon placed the Shiyan 13 experimental satellite in its preset orbit.

This was China's first rocket launch of the year and the 406th mission of the Long March rocket family.