China continued its speedy tempo of space launches with a mission so as to add new capabilities to the nation’s Earth statement system.
A Long March 2D rocket lifted off Thursday (Dec. 8) at 1:31 p.m. EST (1831 GMT; 2:31 a.m. Beijing Time on Friday, Dec. 9) from the hill-surrounded Taiyuan Satellite tv for pc Launch Heart within the northern province of Shanxi.
Aboard the flight was the Gaofen 5 (01A) hyperspectral imaging satellite, which can be a part of the civilian China Excessive-resolution Earth Statement System (CHEOS). It can function from an altitude of roughly 417 miles (672 kilometers) above Earth in a sun-synchronous orbit.
Associated: The latest news about China’s space program
Hyperspectral imaging signifies that Gaofen 5 (01A) will monitor a whole bunch of very slender channels of sunshine, specializing in the long-wave infrared vary. It will enable the satellite to supply photographs indicating the chemical-physical composition of objects within the picture.Â
The satellite additionally carries an atmospheric hint fuel differential absorption spectrometer and a wide-range thermal infrared imager, in keeping with China Space News (opens in new tab).
Chinese language media report that the satellite’s distant sensing capabilities shall be used for purposes in numerous fields, corresponding to air pollution discount, environmental monitoring, pure useful resource surveys and climate change research.
The satellite was developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Know-how (SAST), a significant arm of the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Know-how Company (CASC), the nation’s foremost space contractor.Â
SAST additionally developed the Lengthy March 2D rocket used to launch the satellite. China has additionally despatched two earlier Gaofen 5 collection hyperspectral satellites to space.
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