China is likely to launch a new polar-orbiting meteorological
satellite, Fengyun-3 (FY-3), this autumn to improve its global
weather monitoring capacity.
The satellite, which is developed and manufactured by the
Shanghai Aerospace Administration, is China's second generation of
solar-synchronous weather satellite.
The FY-3 weighed more than 2.4 tons, triple the weight of FY-1
satellite, Gao Huoshan, general director of the FY-3 research team,
was quoted as saying.
The new satellite was equipped with 11 monitoring devices, which
were far more sensitive than those of the FY-1, China's first
generation of solar-synchronous satellite, Gao said.
He said the satellite would be able to detect meteorological
changes more accurately and send back high-resolution images.
Once launched, the FY-3 would do a complete polar orbit every
102 minutes. It would replace the FY-1D, which was launched in May
2002, and form a twin-star observation system with the FY-2D.
The FY-2D, a geostationary orbit meteorological satellite, was
launched on Dec. 8, 2006, to provide better weather forecast
services for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
The FY-3 can observe global meteorological and environmental
changes around the clock and will be used for weather forecasting
and disaster prevention.
The China Meteorological Administration has announced earlier
that China will launch another 22 meteorological satellites by
2020, including four more from the Fengyun-2 series, 12 from the
Fengyun-3 series and six from Fengyun-4 series.
(Xinhua News Agency January 29, 2007)