A Long March-3B rocket carrying the Fengyun-4A satellite blasts off from the launching pad at Xichang Satellite Launch Center, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Dec. 11, 2016. (Photo /Xinhua)
China officially put its new geostationary meteorological satellite Fengyun-4 into service on Monday, said the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence (SASTIND), marking an upgrade in the observation system of China's weather satellites in orbit.
Successfully launched last December from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province, the Fengyu-4A satellite, the first of Fengyun-4 series, was the first of China's second-generation weather satellites in geostationary orbit and also the country's first quantitative remote-sensing satellite in high orbit.
Fengyun-4A was first positioned at 99.5 degrees east longitude over the equator for the in-orbit test and then 105 degrees east longitude on May 25, 2017. During its in-orbit operation, it conducted real-time and effective monitoring over disastrous weather like typhoons, sand storms, torrential rain, and environmental problems such as cyanobacterial bloom and haze.
Its satellite platform, payload and ground applications system have all completed the test tasks during the in-orbit operation and the results met the targets, said the SASTIND.
The satellite will greatly improve China's capacity in weather forecast, meteorological disaster prevention and reduction, environmental surveillance as well as space weather monitoring and early warning, said the SASTIND.
Its successful operation also gives China a leading role in developing geostationary orbiting weather satellites.
The satellite will be largely applied in various fields and play a significant role in helping implement the national strategy of military-civilian integration and the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative.
