China closing the satellite imagery capability gap |
Janes - 14 August 2018
A Chinese Earth-observation satellite launched on 31 July from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre may be capable of achieving ground-image resolution of 10 cm or less. If confirmed, this would give China a satellite-imaging capability second only to the United States and possibly comparable to the maximum resolution provided by US imaging satellites.
China’s state-owned Xinhua news agency reported that the Gaofen 11 satellite is an “optical remote-sensing satellite” that was carried aloft by a Long March 4B rocket “as part of the country’s high-resolution Earth observation project”. An article in the Science & Technology Daily , the news outlet of China’s Ministry of Science and Technology, noted that the satellite’s ground resolution was “at the sub-metre level”.
Previous Gaofen satellites are part of the civil China High-resolution Earth Observation System (CHEOS). However, Gaofen 11 was not included in previously released information related to the civil programme, so it is likely that this satellite will have a primarily military role.
China launched the Gaofen 11 optical remote-sensing satellite from a Long March 4B rocket on 31 July. Source: Via Chinanews.com
