China successfully launched the Practice-9 A and Practice-9 B satellites into space at 11:25 a.m. Sunday, the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center said.

The satellites, launched from the center in north China's Shanxi Province, were boosted by a Long March-2C carrier rocket and sent into a predetermined orbit.

The Practice-9 A and B are the first in a series of civilian satellites designed for technological experimentation.

Developed by an affiliate company of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, the satellites will be used to experiment with domestically developed components, satellite formations and inter-satellite measurement, the center said.