China has launched a new communications satellite dubbed CHINASAT 1C (ZHONGXING 1C) from the launch site at Xichang at 1626 GMT on 9 December 2015. The rocket which carried the spacecraft to a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) on its way to a final geostationary position, was a Long March 3B-G2 (CZ-3B-G2). The spacecraft is thought to be a Fenghuo-2 class military communications satellite similar to the CHINASAT 1A (ZHONGXING 1A) which was launched in 2011.