CHONGQING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- China on Thursday morning launched a rocket developed by a Chinese private company from a launch center in northwest China.

"Chongqing Liangjiang Star," launched at 7:33 a.m., was developed by OneSpace, a Beijing-based private company with a manufacturing base in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality.

"This is the first commercial rocket developed by our company," said Shu Chang, founder and CEO of OneSpace.

The nine-meter-long, 7,200-kg rocket has a maximum altitude of 38.74 kilometers and a top speed of more than 5.7 times the speed of sound.

It can travel for around five minutes, or 273 kilometers, according to Shu.

Established in August 2015, OneSpace is China's first private company with a license to develop carrier rockets. The company has two rocket series, the OS-X and the OS-M.