China puts satellite in orbit

BEIJING, April 15 (UPI) -- China said it launched a second navigation satellite into orbit Wednesday.

China used a Long March-311 rocket to put the Compass-G2 global navigation satellite into space. The rocket was launched just after midnight from the Xichange Satellite Launch Center in southwestern China, Xinhua reported.

China's goal is to have more than 30 of the global positioning satellites in orbit by 2015.

An official with the National Engineering Center of Satellite Navigation told the state-run news agency this second launch was an important step in the country's development of an satellite navigation system that is independent from foreign technology.