China says it has successfully launched into space a maritime satellite.

The Haiyang-2 orbiter was boosted into space Tuesday morning by a Long March-4B carrier rocket from the launch center in the northeastern city of Taiyuan, in Shanxi province.

The official Xinhua news agency says the satellite will survey the maritime environment to help prevent and reduce maritime disasters.

Haiyang-2 is designed to monitor ocean wind fields, sea levels and temperatures, waves, currents, tides and storms in order to provide disaster and weather forecasting information. The satellite is equipped with a microwave radar altimeter to measure sea levels and wind speeds.