China launches nine satellites from offshore platform
The devices will provide remote sensing data for the country's land resources study, urban planning and disaster monitoring services
China launched nine satellites on September 15, which took off from the first payload rocket launched from a platform in the China Sea, a Long March 11.
Launching the carrier craft from an offshore platform offers many advantages compared to taking off from land. The closer to the equator a rocket launch is made, the greater the speed boost it will receive. The position reduces the amount of energy required to enter the space and involves less fuel consumption.
The launch site is flexible and falling debris from the rocket poses fewer risks. The use of civilian ships for launching rockets at sea would reduce launch costs and give it a commercial advantage.
Maritime technology for spacecraft take-off will meet the growing demand for low-orbit satellites and help China in its plan to provide launch services to countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, according to experts.
The satellites launched on September 15, belonging to the Jilin-1 Gaofen 03-1 group, were developed by Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co., Ltd. Three of the satellites will be used for video images, one of which is for the popular Chinese video-sharing platform Bilibili and another for state broadcaster CCTV. The remaining six are scan-image satellites.
The Bilibili satellite has characteristics of low development cost, low power consumption, light weight and high resolution. It was designed to record videos and images for scientific dissemination.
The satellite can obtain videos and color images with a resolution greater than 0.98 meters. The data will be used to create popular videos, spanning fields such as science and technology, humanities, history and education, and will be published on Bilibili. The nine satellites will provide remote sensing data for the country’s land resources survey, urban planning and disaster monitoring services.
The Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center carried out the launch mission. Developed by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, the Long March 11 is the only rocket in China’s Long March rocket series to use solid propellants. It is mainly used to carry small satellites and can put multiple satellites into orbit at the same time.
Source: dpa
