China on Saturday blasted off its new generation Long March-7 carrier rocket for its maiden space flight from the new Wenchang space launch site in south China's Hainan Province.

Measuring 53 meters in length and 597 tonnes in weight, the Long March-7 is a medium-sized rocket that can lift up to 13.5 tonnes to low-Earth orbit.

Earlier reports said it will use new liquid fuel that is less expensive and most importantly environmental friendly.

Long March-7 is widely expected to become the main carrier for China's future space missions.

Its main role will be to transport cargo ships to China's planned space stations, due to enter service around 2022. It could also be used to carry satellites and other spacecraft into orbit.

Saturday's launch mission is the first by the Wenchang site, and the 230th of China's Long March carrier rocket family.

China started development of modern carrier rockets in 1956, and the Long March rockets have become the main carriers for China's satellite launching.

Here is a brief overview of the series.

LONG MARCH-1 

The Long March-1 is a three-stage carrier rocket that is used to launch small-sized satellite into LEO (Low Earth Orbit).

With a length of 29.86 meters and maximum diameter of 2.25 meters, the 81.6-tonne Long March-1 has a liftoff thrust of 112 tonnes and is capable of sending a 300-kg satellite into a LEO of 440 km high.

On April 24, 1970, China launched its first satellite, Dong Fang Hong 1, or "the East is Red," into the Earth's orbit on a Long March-1 rocket, becoming the fifth nation to achieve independent launch capacity after the Soviet Union, the United States, France and Japan.

The Long March-1D carrier rocket is a derivation of the Long March-1 and has been put into commercial use with its capacity of sending satellites into LEO.

LONG MARCH-2 

The Long March-2 is a two-stage rocket, a base model of many other launch vehicles in the family.

On Nov. 26, 1975, a Long March-2 rocket successfully launched China's first retrievable satellite from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, making China the third country with that capacity.

The Long March-2 was later modified into a number of models, including Long March 2C, 2D, 2E and 2F.

In particular, the Long March-2F was used for China's manned space missions, which has sent 10 Shenzhou spacecrafts and 10 astronauts into space over the years.

LONG MARCH-3 

The Long March-3 is a three-stage carrier rocket based on the Long March-2 series. Development of the rocket was completed in 1984.

The third stage of a Long March-3 rocket's flight is powered by liquid hydrogen (LH2) as the fuel and liquid oxygen (LOX) as the oxidizer.

The rocket has a full length of 44.86 meters. Its first and second stages' rockets have a diameter of 3.35 meters while its third stage rocket has a diameter of 2.25 meters.

The Long March-3 has a liftoff mass of 204.88 tonnes and is capable of sending a 1.6-tonne satellite to the geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO).

The Long March-3 also has a range of derivations such as the Long March-3A, -3B and -3C.

The Long March-3 series was well received by the international market.

LONG MARCH-4 

The Long March-4 series of carrier rockets consists of Feng Bao-1 (or "Storm-1"), the Long March-4, Long March-4A and Long March-4B.

The series is mainly used to send satellites into the geostationary orbit and the solar-synchronous orbit.

Feng Bao-1 is a two-stage liquid-fueled rocket that is used to launch LEO satellites. It has a full length of 32.57 meters and maximum diameter of 3.35 meters.

The rocket successfully launched three satellites simultaneously into orbit in 1981 and was suspended of operation in 1982.

The Long March-4 is a three-stage regular carrier rocket developed on the basis of Feng Bao-1 as an alternative solution to send the GTO satellite into space.

The Long March-4A and -4B, the derivations of the Long March-4, are used to launch Sun synchronous orbit (SSO) satellites. The Long March-4A has a length of 41.9 meters and the Long March-4B has a length of 45.58 meters. Both have a maximum diameter of 3.35 meters.

Long March-5 

Designed as the country's strongest carrier rocket, Long March-5 has a payload capacity of 25 tonnes to low Earth orbit, or 14 tonnes to geostationary transfer orbit.

It is scheduled to carry the Chang'e-5 lunar probe around 2017, and will be used to shoot up China's planned space station modules and Mars probes.

Earlier reports said the Long March-5 will also make its debut later this year.

Long March-6 

The Long March-6 is a three-stage rocket mainly used to launch micro-satellites.

Fueled by liquid propellant - liquid oxygen and kerosene - the new carrier rocket is China's first carrier rocket that uses non-toxic and non-polluting fuel.

On Sept. 20, 2015, China launched a Long March-6 rocket which carried 20 micro-satellites into the space in its maiden flight.

Long March-11 

The Long March-11 is a four-stage solid-propellant rocket mainly used for launching micro-satellites.

It is the only series in the Long March family that uses solid propellants.

A Long March-11 rocket carried four micro-satellites into space from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on Sept. 25, 2015. (Xinhua)