China launched a follow-on radar satellite to LEO from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on 22 November 2021. The mission utilised a Long March 4C (CZ-4C) rocket and carried the Gaofen 3-02 satellite to a near 750 km sun-synchronous orbit.
The Gaofen 3 series are synthetic aperture radar (SAR) equipped satellites and are part of the civil Chinese High-resolution Earth Observation System (CHEOS) programme. Along with Gaofen 3 – launched in 2016 – the satellite will provide environmental mapping and sea state data as well as disaster response support.
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The Long March 4C rocket lifting-off with GAOFEN 3-02 on-board. Courtesy of Xinhua/Wang Jiangbo