03 May 2021
Blaine Curcio of Orbital Gateway Consulting and Jean Deville of The China Aerospace Blog are reporting for SpaceWatch.Global on China's main space events of the last week. This time the two experts reflect on the event which occupied the global headlines: China's launch of the core module for its Space Station. The other interesting topics are the creation of a China Satellite Networks Group Company (SatNet company) and the recent launch of the CZ-6 with 9 smallsats on board. Like always: this is an highly interesting and informative read based on original Chinese sources and expert analysis. And for those who prefer to listen: it is an interesting podcast!!!
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30 April 2021
The new FAIR1M (Fine-grAined object recognItion in high-Resolution remote sensing imagery) database of 15,000 high-definition images with 1 million labelled ‘scenes’ and objects can aid AI’s accuracy, such as enabling it to identify not only a plane but its model type. All objects in the FAIR1M dataset are annotated with respect to 5 categories and 37 sub-categories by oriented bounding boxes. Compared with existing detection datasets dedicated to object detection, the FAIR1M dataset is much larger, it provides more rich fine-grained category information, it contains geographic information and it provides better image quality owing to a careful data cleaning procedure. The database was built with funding from the China National Science Foundation and access to the brand-new Gaofen observation satellites (80% of the data) and complemented with Google Earth (20 %). In May, AI researchers from many countries will compete in Beijing for a trophy awarded for satellite image recognition technology, using the FAIR1M database.
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science paper: FAIR1M: A Benchmark Dataset for Fine-grained Object Recognition in High-Resolution Remote Sensing Imagery
30 April 2021
On 30 April 2021 at 15:27 BJT, a CZ-4C launched the Yaogan34 remote sensing satellite from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre. The optical remote sensing satellite will be used for the survey of land resources, urban planning, the confirmation of land rights, road network design, crop yield estimation, and disaster prevention and reduction. It will also provide information services for the construction of the Belt and Road.
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30 April 2021
CGTN published some useful overview infographics on the CSS's layout, China's human spaceflight programme, a comparison of the ISS, CSS and Mir orbital complex and the international cooperation projects on the CSS.
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30 April 2021
Some interesting bits of information on the layout of the Chinese Space Station, the equipment and installations inside the modules.
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Astronauts will enjoy comfort, elbow room in China's space station
29 April 2021
The CZ-5B Y2 rocket, carrying the Tianhe module, launched at 11:23 BJT from the Wenchang Space Launch Centre on the coast of the southern island province of Hainan. Tianhe has a total length of 16.6 m, a maximum diameter of 4.2 m and a takeoff mass of 22.5 t, and is the largest spacecraft developed by China. China will also send the Tianzhou 2 cargo spacecraft and Shenzhou 12 crewed spaceship this year to dock with the core module. 2 taikonauts will be aboard Shenzhou 12 and stay in orbit for 3 months, said Hao Chun, Director of the CMSA. 2 more crews and cargo supply missions will follow next year.
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China successfully launches core module for its own space station, kicking off intense construction phase
Core module of China's space station enters planned orbit