October 31, 2010 - Xichang Satellite Launch Center. China launched its sixth Beidou navigation satellite Sunday, reaching another step in a program to provide precise positioning services across the Asia-Pacific region by 2012. The satellite lifted off on a Long March 3C rocket at 1626 GMT (12:26 pm EDT) Sunday. It was just after midnight at the Xichang launch base in southwestern China's Sichuan province. The three-stage rocket, standing 180 feet tall at liftoff, placed the Beidou payload on course toward geosynchronous orbit, according to the Chinese government. According to tracking data, the spacecraft is in a preliminary orbit stretching from a low point of 115 miles to a high point of about 22260 miles. Its inclination angle is 20.5 degrees. The Beidou, or Compass, satellite will fire its own engine to reach a circular orbit 22300 miles above the equator. It is the sixth satellite launched in the first phase of the system's operational fleet. The craft launched Sunday is the fourth platform designed for geosynchronous orbit over the equator. One satellite is in a medium-altitude orbit more than 13000 miles high, and another spacecraft was injected in an inclined orbit to cover Earth's polar regions. Four Beidou satellites have been sent into space so far this year. China plans one more Beidou launch in December, when another satellite will be sent to cover high latitude and polar users.