A powerful Nigerian satellite was launched by a Chinese rocket Sunday to deliver a broad assortment of communications services to customers across Africa.

NIGCOMSAT 1 is Nigeria's first communications satellite, but the craft's versatile payload will reach nations throughout western and southern Africa.

The launch was also a critical milestone for China's space industry. The project marked the first time a foreign buyer purchased both a Chinese satellite and launch service, according to China's official Xinhua news agency.

Liftoff of the first-of-a-kind satellite was at 1601 GMT (12:01 p.m. EDT) Sunday, or just after midnight Monday Beijing time. The blastoff of the three-stage Long March 3B rocket was shrouded in fog at the Xichang launch center in southwestern China.

The rocket deployed the 11,354-pound craft into an egg-shaped transfer orbit with a high point of about 26,000 miles, a low point of 125 miles, and an inclination of approximately 25 degrees.

The satellite will soon use its propulsion system to reduce its inclination to zero and gradually circularize its orbit at an altitude of about 22,300 miles, where its speed will match Earth's rotation. The craft will be stationed in the geostationary belt along the Equator at 42.5 degrees East longitude over Somalia.

NIGCOMSAT 1 carries a powerful communications payload, which includes seven antennas and transponders in four communications bands. Fourteen Ku-band transponders will focus their coverage on western and southern Africa.

Three spot beams will provide Ka-band coverage from eight transponders to locales in Nigeria, South Africa and Europe. Four C-band transponders will reach western, central and eastern Africa through a fixed antenna. The craft also features an L-band navigation payload.

Officials hope NIGCOMSAT 1 will make telecommunications services more accessible and reliable for Africans. The project could stimulate e-commerce in growing African economies, according to the National Space Research and Development Agency of Nigeria.

Other applications for the satellite will include relaying telephone calls, television and direct-to-home broadcasting, multimedia and Internet services, and real-time monitoring.

The satellite is expected to help create more than 150,000 jobs for Nigerians, save broadband Internet customers nearly $100 million per year, and decrease phone call charges by more than $660 million, according to Xinhua.

Nigeria inked a contract in December 2004 with China Great Wall Industry Corp., the commercial arm of state-owned satellite-builder China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. The $311 million agreement covered the design, construction and launch of NIGCOMSAT 1, Xinhua reported.

Chinese officials also trained Nigerian engineers and built a ground station to communicate with NIGCOMSAT 1.

The spacecraft is based on China's third-generation communications satellite platform, and engineers expect the satellite to operate for up to 15 years.

Sunday's launch was the 18th to successfully reach orbit this year. It was the fourth space launch from China in 2007.