The remote sensing satellite, Land Surveyor 4A, was carried into orbit on a Long March 3B rocket that blasted off at 1:26 am from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Southwest China's Sichuan province, and soon entered its preset geosynchronous orbit, the administration said in a news release, according to the newspaper.
Remote sensing refers to the process of detecting and monitoring the physical characteristics of an area by measuring its reflected and emitted radiation at a distance, typically from aircraft or satellites,
China Daily added.
Developed by the China Academy of Space Technology, the Land Surveyor 4A is the world's first synthetic aperture radar satellite in high-altitude orbit and will extensively improve China's space-based disaster monitoring system, it noted, according to the article.
The spacecraft is tasked with making round-the-clock monitoring on Chinese territories and neighboring regions. In addition to disaster prevention and relief work, it will also be used in land and marine resources management, weather forecast, environmental protection, and agricultural and forestry industries, the administration said.
