A Long March 4C (CZ-4C) rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan launch site in North West China to launch the Gaofen 12 (02) high resolution Earth observation satellite into orbit at 2245 GMT on 30 March. The spacecraft was placed into a circa 600 km near polar sun-synchronous low Earth orbit. Built by the Shanghai-based SAST the satellite might have a dual military and civilian use. Officially, China has never launched a military satellite and describes this as to be used for land surveys, urban and road planning, crop yield tracking and disaster relief which is more indicative of a low to medium resolution satellite. However, Western analysts believe this one to have a ground resolution of less than 0.5 m.
Long March 4C launches Gaofen 12 (02)
by David Todd | Mar 31, 2021 | China, Launches, Military space, Satellites, Seradata News
About Seradata
Seradata produce the renowned Seradata database. Trusted by over 100 of the world’s leading Space organisations, Seradata is a fully queryable database used for market analysis, failure/risk assessment, spectrum analysis and space situational awareness (SSA).
For more information go to https://www.seradata.com/product/
Related Articles
Middle Eastern satellite operator Yahsat's subsidiary Thuraya has lost one of its satellite fleet - or rather it has lost Read more
Keraunothnetophobia is the fear of falling human-made satellites and other space objects - not to be confused with Keraunophobia which Read more
The US Navy used its Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptor missiles in action for the first time to shoot down Iranian Read more
The cost of NASA’s Mars Sample Return project has risen from a projected US$5.3 billion to US$11 billion, prompting many Read more
Two major launches happened in early April. One was a swansong launch: the Delta IV Heavy's last flight. The other Read more
!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r=0;r
Farah Ghouri finds out how Aarti Holla-Maini, director of the UN Office of Outer Space Affairs, is faring six months Read more
We're keeping an eye on space news, so you don't have to. Here is our round-up of the most important, Read more
Our modern world relies heavily on space technology to make Planet Earth a more comfortable, safe and efficient place to Read more
Recent Posts
- Thuraya-3 satellite’s comms payload fails in orbit
- International Space Station battery debris falls on Florida house….should Keraunothnetophobics be afraid? Probably not
- US Navy makes Exo-atmospheric missile interception to aid defence of Israel from Iran’s mass missile and drone attack
- Analysis: spiralling costs may spell end of the line for Mars Sample Return
- It’s Goodbye to the Delta IV Heavy from Cape Canaveral and Hello to a new version of Angara-5 flying from Vostochny