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China Space Military:Recon, Satcom, Navi, ASAT/BMD, Orbital Vehicle, SLV, etc.

After 3 missions accomplished, no any new mission will be carried out by lunar probe CE-2, which is currently located at 20 millions of kilometer from the Earth.


The 3rd chinese lunar probe, CE-3, will be launched this year around December.


The final assembly of CE-3 is ended, according to this footage.


Some pictures on this probe, and the real tests of it's rover in a simulation hall...

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The 3rd and last step of unmanned part of CLEP consists in returning some samples to Earth...


Henri K.
 
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China will launch the first experimental and worldwide version of Beidou-2 navigation and positionning satellite. A total of 4 to 5 experimental satellites will be launched, before launching 30 final satellites to complet the worldwide coverage of Beidou-2 system.

The target is to complet the world coverage by 2020.


Henri K.
 
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The 5th chinese lunar probe, CE-5, will be launched in 2018 with the new rocket CZ-5 in the new space launch center WSLC.

CE-5 will return to Earth with lunar samples.

URL

Henri K.
 
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Wang Yaping (China's second woman taikonaut) will launch on Shenzhou 10

Qmj3wxx.jpg

"A video view from China's Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center shows the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft just moments before Monday's (6/18/2012) automatic docking with the orbiting Tiangong 1 module. The video was captured by a camera mounted on Tiangong's exterior." (Caption from Space.com and NBCNews)

Shenzhou's Shadow Crew

"Shenzhou's Shadow Crew
by Morris Jones for SpaceDaily.com
Sydney, Australia (SPX) Apr 03, 2013

It's official. Wang Yaping, China's second female astronaut, will fly in space aboard the Shenzhou 10 spacecraft later this year. Chinese state media have confirmed her place on the mission in absolute terms. This is no longer rumour or speculation, but it's hardly a surprise.

Space analysts (including this writer) have treated this as a near-certainty for a long time. Their speculation was bolstered by stories that a woman would be included on the crew. With only two female astronauts in China, one of whom is probably no longer eligible to fly, the identity of Wang Yaping wasn't exactly hard to guess.

China's first female astronaut, Liu Yang, flew on the Shenzhou 9 mission last year. Although she remains an active astronaut in an official sense, most analysts expect that she will remain grounded in the future. She has gained a place in history, and China probably doesn't want to lose her in a catastrophic failure.

But mysteries remain about the crew of Shenzhou 10. We can say that there will be two other astronauts on board the spacecraft, both male. Beyond this, we have no official reports on their identities. The crew of Shenzhou 10 is still mostly in the shadows.

A pattern seems to be emerging with China's space crews. Missions now have an experienced veteran as their commander alongside the previously unflown "rookie" astronauts. This suggests that Shenzhou 10 will also be commanded by a veteran.

Long before Wang was officially confirmed for Shenzhou 10, analysts had firmed the odds on a likely crew for the mission. That crew was the alternative for the Shenzhou 9 mission. Wang Yaping was a part of this group. Her colleagues were Nie Haisheng and Zhang Xiaoguang. Nie is the veteran of the crew, having flown on Shenzhou 6. Zhang is a rookie from the original 1998 group of astronauts recruited for the Shenzhou program.

It still seems highly probable that this will form the prime crew for Shenzhou 10. It certainly fits the pattern. However, it is still possible that there has been a reshuffle of the Shenzhou 10 crew. Wang Yaping could be joined by one or even two different astronauts.

Flying the Shenzhou 9 backup crew would streamline crew training and procedures. It would also be consistent with the way that other space programs have "graduated" backup crews to prime crews for later missions.

Of course, we know very little of what happens inside China's astronaut corps. It is possible that one of the male astronauts has been ruled out for reasons that we cannot suspect. It has happened regularly to space travelers from other nations, sometimes just weeks before a flight.

China may also wish to alter the crew in order to fulfill certain mission objectives on Shenzhou 10. Although this mission will be generally similar to the flight of Shenzhou 9, which docked with the Tiangong 1 space laboratory, there could be some subtle differences in the experiments that will be performed. Has one of the other astronauts become a specialist in certain tasks? Again, it is unlikely, but not impossible.

It's understandable that releasing Wang Yaping's name early is useful, as it drums up interest in the mission. Everyone would like to see more women fly in space. However, China has traditionally announced entire crews with the one statement. If Nie Haisheng and Zhang Xiaoguang are on the mission, it makes sense to disclose their identities.

Perhaps we are seeing a compromise between the desire to publicize China's second female astronaut with the traditional pattern of secrecy of revealing Shenzhou crews, which are normally kept under wraps until shortly before the flight. Alternatively, some questions about the crew could still be unresolved.

This shadow crew is another intriguing issue for the upcoming mission. It raises more questions than it answers. Hopefully our questions will be resolved soon."
 
.
Wang Yaping (China's second woman taikonaut) will launch on Shenzhou 10

Qmj3wxx.jpg

"A video view from China's Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center shows the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft just moments before Monday's (6/18/2012) automatic docking with the orbiting Tiangong 1 module. The video was captured by a camera mounted on Tiangong's exterior." (Caption from Space.com and NBCNews)

Shenzhou's Shadow Crew

"Shenzhou's Shadow Crew
by Morris Jones for SpaceDaily.com
Sydney, Australia (SPX) Apr 03, 2013

It's official. Wang Yaping, China's second female astronaut, will fly in space aboard the Shenzhou 10 spacecraft later this year. Chinese state media have confirmed her place on the mission in absolute terms. This is no longer rumour or speculation, but it's hardly a surprise.

Space analysts (including this writer) have treated this as a near-certainty for a long time. Their speculation was bolstered by stories that a woman would be included on the crew. With only two female astronauts in China, one of whom is probably no longer eligible to fly, the identity of Wang Yaping wasn't exactly hard to guess.

China's first female astronaut, Liu Yang, flew on the Shenzhou 9 mission last year. Although she remains an active astronaut in an official sense, most analysts expect that she will remain grounded in the future. She has gained a place in history, and China probably doesn't want to lose her in a catastrophic failure.

But mysteries remain about the crew of Shenzhou 10. We can say that there will be two other astronauts on board the spacecraft, both male. Beyond this, we have no official reports on their identities. The crew of Shenzhou 10 is still mostly in the shadows.

A pattern seems to be emerging with China's space crews. Missions now have an experienced veteran as their commander alongside the previously unflown "rookie" astronauts. This suggests that Shenzhou 10 will also be commanded by a veteran.

Long before Wang was officially confirmed for Shenzhou 10, analysts had firmed the odds on a likely crew for the mission. That crew was the alternative for the Shenzhou 9 mission. Wang Yaping was a part of this group. Her colleagues were Nie Haisheng and Zhang Xiaoguang. Nie is the veteran of the crew, having flown on Shenzhou 6. Zhang is a rookie from the original 1998 group of astronauts recruited for the Shenzhou program.

It still seems highly probable that this will form the prime crew for Shenzhou 10. It certainly fits the pattern. However, it is still possible that there has been a reshuffle of the Shenzhou 10 crew. Wang Yaping could be joined by one or even two different astronauts.

Flying the Shenzhou 9 backup crew would streamline crew training and procedures. It would also be consistent with the way that other space programs have "graduated" backup crews to prime crews for later missions.

Of course, we know very little of what happens inside China's astronaut corps. It is possible that one of the male astronauts has been ruled out for reasons that we cannot suspect. It has happened regularly to space travelers from other nations, sometimes just weeks before a flight.

China may also wish to alter the crew in order to fulfill certain mission objectives on Shenzhou 10. Although this mission will be generally similar to the flight of Shenzhou 9, which docked with the Tiangong 1 space laboratory, there could be some subtle differences in the experiments that will be performed. Has one of the other astronauts become a specialist in certain tasks? Again, it is unlikely, but not impossible.

It's understandable that releasing Wang Yaping's name early is useful, as it drums up interest in the mission. Everyone would like to see more women fly in space. However, China has traditionally announced entire crews with the one statement. If Nie Haisheng and Zhang Xiaoguang are on the mission, it makes sense to disclose their identities.

Perhaps we are seeing a compromise between the desire to publicize China's second female astronaut with the traditional pattern of secrecy of revealing Shenzhou crews, which are normally kept under wraps until shortly before the flight. Alternatively, some questions about the crew could still be unresolved.

This shadow crew is another intriguing issue for the upcoming mission. It raises more questions than it answers. Hopefully our questions will be resolved soon."
Hi, Martian2, Long time no see.
 
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WSLC
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Wenchang Satellite Launch Center - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Unlike the Space Centers on the mainland whose rail tracks are too narrow to transport the new five meter core boosters, Wenchang will use its sea port for deliveries. Initial launches of the CZ-5 booster from Wenchang were, expected in 2014, one year after the intended commissioning of the Wenchang Center.
 
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Two space tracking ships, YW-3 and YW-6, left mainland yesterday and will go to their respective zones for Shenzhou-10 manned mission.


The 3rd ship, YW-5, will leave in a few weeks.

Henri K.
 
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China back in action with Long March 2D launch of Gaofen-1 | NASASpaceFlight.com
2da9eb8233c1c5ec6802c715d2a956b5.jpg

China has opened its 2013 account with the launch of a new civilian high-resolution remote sensing satellite called Gaofen-1. Launched by a Long March 2D (Chang Zheng 2D), lift off took place at 5:13 UTC from LC43 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. Launched together with Gaofen-1 were three small CubeSats: NEE-01 Pegaso, Turksat-3USAT and CubeBug-1 ‘Capitán Beto’.


Chinese Launch:

The Gaofen program is one of the 16 programs announced by the Chinese State Council for its national scientific and technology programs. This program will become the main civilian Earth observation project, combining the use of satellites, as well as airplanes and even stratosphere balloons.

The program began in 2010, with at least 14 satellites set for launch between 2013 to 2020. It will form part of a near-real time, all-weather, global surveillance network for agricultural planning, disaster relief, environment protection, and security.
Z317.jpg

Gaofen-1 is based on the CAST small satellite bus designed, built by China Spacesat Co. Ltd. It is equipped with two solar panel wings. For observation purposes, GF-1 is equipped with a 2 meter resolution CCD camera, an 8 meter resolution multi-spectrum imager, and a 16 meter resolution wide-field multi-spectrum imager.

CAST2000 is a small satellite bus with high performance, expandability and flexibility. It adopts S-band TT&C sub-system, X-band data transmission sub-system and 3-axis attitude stabilization, and has the capabilities of highly precise control, large-range sway maneuver, flexible orbit maneuver, highly integrated housekeeping and highly effective power supply.

Moreover, it sports “constellation configuration maintenance” and phase control to support formation flight of small satellites. The bus has been successfully applied in several Chinese small satellites, and proven to be of excellent performance and reliability.

The satellite bus can be widely applied in different missions, such as earth observation, technological demonstration, scientific exploration, Earth environmental exploration, formation flight and networking, meteorological research and application, communications and navigation.
Gaofen-2 is also expected to launch this year. GF-2 will have a one meter resolution pan-chromatic camera and a four meter resolution multi-spectral camera.

Another three Gaofen satellites are expected to launch in 2015. This next series will include the GF-3 satellite, which will sport a one meter resolution C-band synthetic aptitude radar, while GF-4 will have a 50 meter resolution fixed-point camera in geostationary orbit.

GF-5 will use a visible light-near infrared hyper-spectral camera, a full-frequency spectrometer/atmospheric greenhouse gas monitor, an atmospheric trace gas absorption spectrometer atmospheric aerosol multi-angle photometer, and a atmospheric environment very-high resolution infrared radiation detector.

Gaofen-6 will be launched in 2016, and will include a two meter resolution pan-chromatic camera, an eight meter resolution multi-spectral camera and a 16 meter resolution wide-angle multi-spectral camera. Gaofen-7 will be launched in 2018 with a hyper-spectral stereographic cartography camera.

Launched together with Gaofen-1 were three small CubeSats: NEE-01 Pegaso, Turksat-3USAT and CubeBug-1 ‘Capitán Beto’.
NEE 01 Pegaso is a 1U CubeSat and is the first satellite to be launched for Ecuador.

Various tasks will be conducted by the small satellite for technological demonstration and education, mainly the test of real time video transmission, the test of multiphase solar array and a test of a passive antenna deployment system, the test of a thermal and radiation shield, and the test of a carbon nanotubes thermal control system.

At launch the satellite had a mass of 1,266 kg – and it is equipped with two deployable fixed solar arrays that generate energy that is stored in onboard batteries. Pegaso was originally planned to be launched on a Dnepr rocket.

The first nanosatellite communication mission of Istanbul’s Technical University, TurkSat-3USat is a 3U CubeSat and is a follow-up project based on the ITUpSat-1 (Istanbul Technical University PicoSatellite-1) mission that was launch in 2009.

The size of the small satellite is 0.1 x 0.1 x 0.3 m, with a total mass of around four kg, with a C329 UART camera onboard, allowing for occasional snapshots of target areas. The satellite was jointly built with TURKSAT and was also set to ride on a Dnepr rocket.

The payload of the TurkSat-3USat is a VHF/UHF linear transponder to be used for voice communication. A deorbiting system is also designed to deorbit the satellite following its end-of-life, in order to comply with the current CubeSat standard and United Nations regulations.

The objective of the deorbiting system is to deorbit the nanosatellite within 25 years, by increasing the drag force exerted on the vehicle by means of enlarging the frontal surface area with a lightweight thin membrane.

The power its satellite operations is provided by using solar panels and lithium polymer batteries, together with super capacitors. Satellite stabilization will be accomplished using passive magnetic attitude control system with hysteresis rods.

From Argentina comes CubeBug-1. Also known as ‘Capitan Beto’, this 2U CubeSat is the first technology demonstration mission for a new CubeSat platform design (mechanics, hardware and software, intended to be released as Open Source and Open Hardware for its use in Amateur projects, University projects and research labs.

This project is sponsored by the Argentinian Ministry of Science, Technology and Productive Innovation, INVAP S.E., Satellogic S.A., and Radio Club Bariloche.

The satellite includes custom designed components, such as the COTS-based ARM based on-board computer, a nano-reaction wheel with its driver circuit and a low resolution camera. After the technology demonstration part of the mission is over, the satellite will enter a mode that will include services to the Amateur radio community, including a Digipeter and science data downloads from the payload.
Chinese 2013 schedule:

With a late start to 2013, China is preparing for a busy schedule in the next few months. Official statements point for 16 orbital launches in 2013, with the two high points of the year being the launch of Shenzhou-10 in June and the launch of Chang’e-3 lunar lander/rover in December.

Other missions will see the launch of the Zhongxing-11/Supremesat-II communications satellite in the opening part of May, the launch of the third second generation of Chinese polar orbiting meteorological satellites Fengyun-3, and the launch of the Túpac Katari ‘TKSat-1′ Bolivian communications satellite. Launches for the Shijian-11 early warning satellites are also expected.
This launch was the 175th successful Chinese orbital launch
 
.
China back in action with Long March 2D launch of Gaofen-1 | NASASpaceFlight.com
2da9eb8233c1c5ec6802c715d2a956b5.jpg

China has opened its 2013 account with the launch of a new civilian high-resolution remote sensing satellite called Gaofen-1. Launched by a Long March 2D (Chang Zheng 2D), lift off took place at 5:13 UTC from LC43 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. Launched together with Gaofen-1 were three small CubeSats: NEE-01 Pegaso, Turksat-3USAT and CubeBug-1 ‘Capitán Beto’.


Chinese Launch:

The Gaofen program is one of the 16 programs announced by the Chinese State Council for its national scientific and technology programs. This program will become the main civilian Earth observation project, combining the use of satellites, as well as airplanes and even stratosphere balloons.

The program began in 2010, with at least 14 satellites set for launch between 2013 to 2020. It will form part of a near-real time, all-weather, global surveillance network for agricultural planning, disaster relief, environment protection, and security.
Z317.jpg

Gaofen-1 is based on the CAST small satellite bus designed, built by China Spacesat Co. Ltd. It is equipped with two solar panel wings. For observation purposes, GF-1 is equipped with a 2 meter resolution CCD camera, an 8 meter resolution multi-spectrum imager, and a 16 meter resolution wide-field multi-spectrum imager.

CAST2000 is a small satellite bus with high performance, expandability and flexibility. It adopts S-band TT&C sub-system, X-band data transmission sub-system and 3-axis attitude stabilization, and has the capabilities of highly precise control, large-range sway maneuver, flexible orbit maneuver, highly integrated housekeeping and highly effective power supply.

Moreover, it sports “constellation configuration maintenance” and phase control to support formation flight of small satellites. The bus has been successfully applied in several Chinese small satellites, and proven to be of excellent performance and reliability.

The satellite bus can be widely applied in different missions, such as earth observation, technological demonstration, scientific exploration, Earth environmental exploration, formation flight and networking, meteorological research and application, communications and navigation.
Gaofen-2 is also expected to launch this year. GF-2 will have a one meter resolution pan-chromatic camera and a four meter resolution multi-spectral camera.

Another three Gaofen satellites are expected to launch in 2015. This next series will include the GF-3 satellite, which will sport a one meter resolution C-band synthetic aptitude radar, while GF-4 will have a 50 meter resolution fixed-point camera in geostationary orbit.

GF-5 will use a visible light-near infrared hyper-spectral camera, a full-frequency spectrometer/atmospheric greenhouse gas monitor, an atmospheric trace gas absorption spectrometer atmospheric aerosol multi-angle photometer, and a atmospheric environment very-high resolution infrared radiation detector.

Gaofen-6 will be launched in 2016, and will include a two meter resolution pan-chromatic camera, an eight meter resolution multi-spectral camera and a 16 meter resolution wide-angle multi-spectral camera. Gaofen-7 will be launched in 2018 with a hyper-spectral stereographic cartography camera.

Launched together with Gaofen-1 were three small CubeSats: NEE-01 Pegaso, Turksat-3USAT and CubeBug-1 ‘Capitán Beto’.
NEE 01 Pegaso is a 1U CubeSat and is the first satellite to be launched for Ecuador.

Various tasks will be conducted by the small satellite for technological demonstration and education, mainly the test of real time video transmission, the test of multiphase solar array and a test of a passive antenna deployment system, the test of a thermal and radiation shield, and the test of a carbon nanotubes thermal control system.

At launch the satellite had a mass of 1,266 kg – and it is equipped with two deployable fixed solar arrays that generate energy that is stored in onboard batteries. Pegaso was originally planned to be launched on a Dnepr rocket.

The first nanosatellite communication mission of Istanbul’s Technical University, TurkSat-3USat is a 3U CubeSat and is a follow-up project based on the ITUpSat-1 (Istanbul Technical University PicoSatellite-1) mission that was launch in 2009.

The size of the small satellite is 0.1 x 0.1 x 0.3 m, with a total mass of around four kg, with a C329 UART camera onboard, allowing for occasional snapshots of target areas. The satellite was jointly built with TURKSAT and was also set to ride on a Dnepr rocket.

The payload of the TurkSat-3USat is a VHF/UHF linear transponder to be used for voice communication. A deorbiting system is also designed to deorbit the satellite following its end-of-life, in order to comply with the current CubeSat standard and United Nations regulations.

The objective of the deorbiting system is to deorbit the nanosatellite within 25 years, by increasing the drag force exerted on the vehicle by means of enlarging the frontal surface area with a lightweight thin membrane.

The power its satellite operations is provided by using solar panels and lithium polymer batteries, together with super capacitors. Satellite stabilization will be accomplished using passive magnetic attitude control system with hysteresis rods.

From Argentina comes CubeBug-1. Also known as ‘Capitan Beto’, this 2U CubeSat is the first technology demonstration mission for a new CubeSat platform design (mechanics, hardware and software, intended to be released as Open Source and Open Hardware for its use in Amateur projects, University projects and research labs.

This project is sponsored by the Argentinian Ministry of Science, Technology and Productive Innovation, INVAP S.E., Satellogic S.A., and Radio Club Bariloche.

The satellite includes custom designed components, such as the COTS-based ARM based on-board computer, a nano-reaction wheel with its driver circuit and a low resolution camera. After the technology demonstration part of the mission is over, the satellite will enter a mode that will include services to the Amateur radio community, including a Digipeter and science data downloads from the payload.
Chinese 2013 schedule:

With a late start to 2013, China is preparing for a busy schedule in the next few months. Official statements point for 16 orbital launches in 2013, with the two high points of the year being the launch of Shenzhou-10 in June and the launch of Chang’e-3 lunar lander/rover in December.

Other missions will see the launch of the Zhongxing-11/Supremesat-II communications satellite in the opening part of May, the launch of the third second generation of Chinese polar orbiting meteorological satellites Fengyun-3, and the launch of the Túpac Katari ‘TKSat-1′ Bolivian communications satellite. Launches for the Shijian-11 early warning satellites are also expected.
This launch was the 175th successful Chinese orbital launch
 
. . .
Gaofen-1 has 2m resolution (launched). Gaofen-2 has 1m resolution (launch later this year).

In past interviews, Chinese designers have said that their military satellites have twice the resolution of their commercial satellites. For example, if a commercial satellite has two-meter resolution (like the Gaofen-1) then a military satellite has about an one-meter resolution.

However, the commercial Gaofen-2 satellite with one-meter resolution will launch later this year. This means current Chinese military satellite technology is at approximately 0.5 meter resolution. It is very impressive for Chinese military satellites to achieve sub-meter resolution!

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Picture of Gaofen-1 satellite


China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation

QkLMpBK.jpg


[Note: Thank you to "Galactic Penguin SST" for the picture link.]

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China launches Gaofen-1 satellite- China.org.cn

14UXPeR.jpg

China launches the first Gaofen high-resolution imaging satellite at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on April. 26, 2013. [Photo/Xinhua]

[Note: Thank you to Sheriff for alerting me to the Gaofen-1 launch.]

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China back in action with Long March 2D launch of Gaofen-1 | NASASpaceFlight.com

"China back in action with Long March 2D launch of Gaofen-1
April 25, 2013 by Rui C. Barbosa

China has opened its 2013 account with the launch of a new civilian high-resolution remote sensing satellite called Gaofen-1. Launched by a Long March 2D (Chang Zheng 2D), lift off took place at 04:13 UTC from LC43 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.
...
Gaofen-1 is based on the CAST small satellite bus designed, built by China Spacesat Co. Ltd. It is equipped with two solar panel wings. For observation purposes, GF-1 is equipped with a 2 meter resolution CCD camera, an 8 meter resolution multi-spectrum imager, and a 16 meter resolution wide-field multi-spectrum imager.

CAST2000 is a small satellite bus with high performance, expandability and flexibility. It adopts S-band TT&C sub-system, X-band data transmission sub-system and 3-axis attitude stabilization, and has the capabilities of highly precise control, large-range sway maneuver, flexible orbit maneuver, highly integrated housekeeping and highly effective power supply.

Moreover, it sports “constellation configuration maintenance” and phase control to support formation flight of small satellites. The bus has been successfully applied in several Chinese small satellites, and proven to be of excellent performance and reliability.
...
Gaofen-2 is also expected to launch this year. GF-2 will have a one meter resolution pan-chromatic camera and a four meter resolution multi-spectral camera.

Another three Gaofen satellites are expected to launch in 2015. This next series will include the GF-3 satellite, which will sport a one meter resolution C-band synthetic aptitude radar, while GF-4 will have a 50 meter resolution fixed-point camera in geostationary orbit.

GF-5 will use a visible light-near infrared hyper-spectral camera, a full-frequency spectrometer/atmospheric greenhouse gas monitor, an atmospheric trace gas absorption spectrometer atmospheric aerosol multi-angle photometer, and a atmospheric environment very-high resolution infrared radiation detector.

Gaofen-6 will be launched in 2016, and will include a two meter resolution pan-chromatic camera, an eight meter resolution multi-spectral camera and a 16 meter resolution wide-angle multi-spectral camera. Gaofen-7 will be launched in 2018 with a hyper-spectral stereographic cartography camera."
 
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