Moscow. September 7. INTERFAX.RU – China has successfully launched the Gaofen-5 remote sensing satellite into Earth orbit, China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Tuesday.
The satellite was launched into a sun-synchronous orbit by a two-stage Changzhen-4C launch vehicle. The launch took place from the Taiyuan cosmodrome at 6:01 Moscow time.
This is China's 32nd launch this year.
Gaofen 5 is equipped with a high-definition shortwave hyperspectral camera, a greenhouse gas detector, a high-resolution infrared atmospheric detector, and instruments for tracking various natural phenomena. The satellite is launched into a sun-synchronous orbit with an altitude of about 705 kilometers.
The Gaofeng family of remote sensing satellites is being used as part of China's government-approved high-resolution round-the-clock Earth observation satellite system (CHEOS) program in 2010.
According to the plan of the Chinese authorities, during the implementation of CHEOS, a satellite system should be created that can warn of the occurrence of natural disasters, predict the weather, estimate yields in various regions of China, as well as monitor the operation of irrigation systems and the prospects for economic growth in the country's regions.
The first launch of the Gaofen satellite (GF-1) under the state program was carried out on August 26, 2013 from the Jiuquan cosmodrome using the Changzheng-2D two-stage launch vehicle. In addition to the Chinese satellite, three microsatellites from other countries were launched into orbit – Argentina, Ecuador and Turkey.
