China on Wednesday successfully launched a rocket from a ship at sea for the first time, the latest step in its expanding space program, Reuters reported.

“A Long March 11 solid-propellant carrier rocket blasted off at 12:06 pm from a mobile launch platform – a modified submersible craft – in the Yellow Sea off the eastern province of Shandong,” said the state-run People’s Daily. “And then sent seven satellites into orbit about 600 kilometres above the Earth.”

One of the satellites measures sea-surface winds to forecast typhoons. The rocket also carried two communications satellites belonging to China 125, a Beijing-based technology company which plans to launch hundreds of satellites to provide global data networking services.

This is the first seaborne space launch in the world in five years, according to the state media. “It showcased China’s mastery of the technologies and capabilities required for such operations and indicates the country has found an alternative to its ground-based launch centres,” according to People’s Daily.

The state media reported that the world’s first launch at sea was made in April 1967 with a Scout B carrier rocket, developed by the United States. The most recent launch took place in May 2014, when Sea Launch, a multinational joint venture, sent a Zenit-3SL rocket from the company’s mobile launch platform Odyssey in the Pacific Ocean into the orbit carrying a communication satellite.

Li Tongyu, Long March 11’s project manager at the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, said that more such sea-based rocket launches will be conducted in the future to verify its capacity to lift payloads in various orbits, the state media said.

Space programmes have taken a top priority in China as it aims to become a major space power by 2030. China is competing against the United States and also plans to begin construction of its own manned space station next year. The US has accused China of pursuing activities aimed at preventing other nations from using space-based assets during a crisis.