Beijing (CNS) -- The first Chinese stereoscopic cartographic satellite for civil use has been developed, and is slated for a January launch, revealed Xu Deming, director at the National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation, Monday.
The satellite, equipped with China's most advanced high-resolution camera and high-precision mapping devices, will be put into orbit by the Long March 4B rocket, and every 59 days make a complete record of the globe between 84 degrees north longitude and 84 degrees south longitude.
The project, starting from March 2008, is expected to help with natural disaster management and ecologic protection, as well as to serve agricultural, urban planning, communication, and national defense projects.
A stack of satellite projects is included in national plans from 2011 to 2020, and all will need accurate data collected under all sorts of weather conditions, said one official.
