“Surprise” Chinese Sat Launch

The Chinese’ Xinhua news service is reporting the launch of a new, remote sensing satellite from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, which is located in northern China in the Shanxi Province. In a Rui C. Barbosa bylined article at the NASA website, the launch occurred yesterday (Monday, 22:48 UTC Sunday night) in the early morning hours. The satellite was lifted into space by a CZ-4C Chang Zheng-4C (Long March) rocket. The vehicle is believed to be a new variant of the Chinese CZ-4B family of rockets. The satellite is called the Yaogan-III and weighs 2700 kg. and is the second Jian Bing-5 vehicle. The first mention of this satellite’s existence was the Xinhua news service AFTER the launch.




Yaogan-III’s stated purpose is for scientific research, land resources surveying, crop yield estimate and disaster prevention and relief. However, the satellite appears to have a military nature, as the People’s Liberation Army finds Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites vital in ensuring their information dominance for future warfare. SAR sats can measure the intensity and phase of reflected microwave radiation. This results in a high sensitivity to texture as well as 3D capabilities and the ability to produce hi-res imagery of the Earth’s surface, regardless of weather conditions or day or night conditions. SAR sats are tremendously useful in locating and tracking moving targets and are also highly adapted for military mapping projects. The Chinese have also mentioned this technology is important to them as it allows them to track enemy submarines in shallow waters. This was the 105th successful orbital launch for China, the 104th launch of the Chang Zheng (Long March) series of rockets, while also being the 23rd successful launch from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center – the third from Taiyuan this year, and the 10th – and probably last – Chinese launch of 2007.




On October 24, China launched its first lunar probe, Chang’e-1, which will study the moon during more than a year. Next year will be a major year for the Chinese space exploration as China will launch its third manned mission, ShenZhou-7 and two of its Yuhangyuans will step outside to carry out the first Chinese spacewalk.