China successfully launched the second 1m C-SAR operational satellite, Marine monitoring satellite constellation has been officially completed
At 7:47 April 7th, China has successfully launched the 1m C-SAR satellite using the Long March 4C carrier rocket at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. This is China’s second C-band multi polarization synthetic aperture radar operational satellite, it can form a 3-satellites network with the first 1m C-SAR satellite which is on-orbit and the GF-3 scientific research satellite, thus the revisit period and coverage of the satellite have been significantly improved, marking the official completion of China's first marine monitoring radar satellite constellation.
The establishment of 1m C-SAR operational satellite project is supported by National Civil Space Infrastructure Development Planning, and 1m C-SAR operational satellite is a marine operational satellite built under the auspices of the Ministry of Natural Resources. It is composed of 2 satellites who has the same performance, which can obtain multi polarization, high-resolution, wide and quantitative sea and land observation data. Compared to GF-3 satellite, it has been improved in imaging quality, detection efficiency, quantitative application and many other aspects. After the networking of the three satellites, the average revisit period is increased from 15 hours to 5 hours compared to single satellite. It can provide quantitative remote sensing data which has high timeliness, is stable and can meet the needs of operation for marine environment monitoring and marine target monitoring, emergency monitoring of natural disasters and work safety accidents, land use, surface water and other multi-element observation.
Under the organization of the Ministry of Natural Resources, the on-orbit test of the first 1m C-SAR operational satellite is advancing in an orderly manner and progressing smoothly. The satellite platform and sensor test, satellite data field calibration and ground processing have been completed, and the satellite status and image quality are good. Subsequently, the National Satellite Ocean Application Service of the Ministry of Natural Resources will do a good job in the on-orbit test of two satellites incorporation with relevant units, make every effort to ensure that the satellites will be put into use on time, realize the operation of multi satellite networking, and effectively meet the application needs of marine, land, emergency, ecological and environmental protection, water conservancy, agriculture, meteorology and other fields.
