Rocket carrying French-Chinese satellite lifts off in China: AFP reports

A Long March 2-C rocket carrying a satellite jointly developed by China and France lifted off Saturday from a space base in Xichang, in southwestern China, AFP journalists witnessed.

The launch took place around 3:00 pm (0700 GMT). The satellite, dubbed the Space Variable Objects Monitor (SVOM), will seek out gamma-ray bursts, powerful cosmic explosions that offer clues about the history of the universe.

AFP