BEIJING (AP) — A rocket developed by Chinese company iSpace is carrying three miniature satellites into space in another milestone for the country's budding private spaceflight industry.

Reports said the SQX-1Z rocket blasted off Wednesday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China. Two of the satellites will be released into space for testing while the third will re-enter the atmosphere and parachute down to Earth.

China's space program has traditionally been run by the military, but a number of commercial satellite launchers have also sprung up in recent years, modeled on private U.S. companies such as SpaceX and Blue Origin.

In May, Beijing-based OneSpace Technologies became the first private Chinese spaceflight company to send a rocket into space.