Update: Launch of Beidou 3 delayed
update from 16 June: Engineers discovered technical problems with the CZ-3B rocket during pre-launch checks. As a result, the launch of the last BDS-3 constellation satellite has been postponed, and a new launch date is to be set.
Pre-Launch Countdown Starts for the Last BDS-3 Satellite
14 June 2020
The final satellite to complete the third-generation network of China's Beidou Navigation Satellite System is now ready for launch, according to the China Satellite Navigation Office. The spacecraft, the 59th in the Beidou family and 30th in the 3rd-generation series, has undergone technical checks, propellant injection and pre-launch setting at the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in Southwest China's Sichuan province, the office said in a statement on 14 June, adding that the Long March 3B carrier rocket to lift it to a geostationary orbit will soon be fueled up at the centre. The launch window is set for the 16 June between 10:11 h and 10:50 h (Beijing Time). In the meanwhile, almost 100 front-line workers who helped fight the Coronavirus pandemic in Hubei or assisted overseas or in their hometown arrived at the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre. They were invited by the China National Space Administration, The China Satellite Navigation Office and the China Aerospace Foundation to attend the launch of the last Beidou 3 satellite.
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HY-1D ocean observation satellite sends back first images
16 June 2020
China's newly-launched ocean observation satellite has sent back its first batch of remote sensing images, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources. The HY-1D satellite and its payloads, which include an ocean color and temperature scanner and calibration spectrometer, have started normal operations. The National Satellite Marine Application Service's three ground stations in Hainan Province, Beijing and Heilongjiang Province, successfully received the remote sensing data from the satellite on 14 June.
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Link to image gallery on Weibo
China's polar-observing satellite starts Arctic remote-sensing mission
16 June 2020
After extensive in-orbit testing and debugging, China's first polar-observing satellite "Ice Pathfinder" (Code: BNU-1) has started its Arctic observation mission after orbiting Earth for nine months. Since its launch on 12 September 2019, Ice Pathfinder has sent back more than 1,000 images covering the South Polar region. It was developed by scientists of the Beijing Normal University and Sun Yat-Sen University. It was designed to provide coverage between 85 degrees north and south latitudes.
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China launches Gaofen-9 03 Earth observation satellite
17 June 2020
China launched on a Long March-2D the new Gaofen-9 03 Earth observation satellite from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China on 17 June at 15:19 h (Beijing Time). Gaofen-9 03 is an optical remote-sensing satellite with a resolution up to the sub-meter level. The satellite will be mainly used for land survey, city planning, land right confirmation, road network design, crop yield estimation and disaster prevention and mitigation, as well as providing information for the construction of the Belt and Road.
Via the same carrier rocket, two other satellites were also sent into space: One of them, developed by Zhejiang University, will be used to test pico-satellite and nano-satellite technologies and the other developed by Beijing-based China HEAD Aerospace Technology Co., will be used to collect global information on ship and flight statuses and the Internet of Things.
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