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China Moves Towards New Generation Metsats
Beijing - June 11, 2001 China has begun development of a new generation of meteorological satellites to replace China's existing fleet of weather birds over the next decade with funding of 1 billion renminbi ($121 million) over the next ten years to build 10 new satellites approved to date. At a news conference held on Dec. 31, 2000 the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST, formerly known as the Shanghai Bureau of Astronautics) said that it had officially begun development work on the new generation sunsynchronous polar orbit Fengyun-3 metsat (FY-3, Fengyun means "Wind and Cloud"), which would succeed FY-1. SAST officials said that the experimental FY-3A would be targeted for launch in late 2004 or early 2005. The 2,200-kg, three-axis stabilized satellite will orbit at an altitude of 890 km. The design lifetime of FY-3A will be two years. In an interview published in the newspaper China Daily on Feb. 3 this year, SAST's chief satellite designer Meng Zhizhong said: "A framework for the satellite is already established, the equipment to monitor weather changes is ready and a model of the satellite has been made." Among the nine payload experiments on board FY-3A will be an advanced Multichannel Visible and Infrared Scan Radiometer (MVISR) with a resolution of 250 m, which is better than the imaging resolution of the current American polar-orbiting satellite NOAA-15. Meteorologists will use FY-3A data in:
SAST did not mention when it would start developing the next generation geostationary metsat FY-4, which would replace the current FY-2 satellites. But Meng said, "Feasibility studies on the design and launch of the Fengyun 4 meteorological satellite have begun." The experimental FY-4 would have a design life expectancy of three years, an extra year longer than FY-3. According to the China Meteorological Administration (CMA), FY-4 will be a three-axis stabilized satellite as opposed to the spin-stabilized satellites of the FY-2 series. Like its sister craft FY-3, FY-4 will carry multiple payloads on board. Before the eventual migration to the FY-4 series of geostationary metsats at the end the decade, China plans to launch three more improved FY-2 satellites: FY-2C, D and E. The three improved FY-2 metsats will continue to acquire visible, infrared and water vapor cloud images and monitor space environment conditions. But the major improvements of the remaining FY-2 metsats will be adding two spectral channels to the Visible and Infrared Spin Scan Radiometer (VISSR) from the current three to five, and increasing power supply to the satellite. The enhanced current and next generation metsats is part of China's on-going effort to modernize its meteorological services. A CMA timeline, which is filed with the Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites (CGMS) of the United Nations World Meteorological Organization (WMO), suggests:
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Taikonauts On Moon A Far Off Dream For China Yet
Beijing (XNA) Jan 05, 2006A one-year lunar fly-by mission may start in April 2007 in China, but a manned flight to the Earth's neighbour may be a long way away, a chief lunar exploration scientist said last night. |
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