Five Fengyun meteorological satellites are scheduled to be launched in the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) and the Fengyun-4B and Fengyun-3E weather satellites are to be launched in 2021.
The Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology is responsible for development of the satellites.
Developed based on the Fengyun-4A satellite, the Fengyun-4B weather satellite is the first business satellite of the series.
It is equipped with a rapid imager, improving measurement resolution to 250 meters and accelerating scan imaging of the Earth.
Meanwhile, the device will contribute to 24/7 monitoring with high resolution, benefiting short-term weather prediction, which will be valuable experience for development of China's stationary meteorology satellite.
The Fengyun-3E satellite is the fifth of the Fengyun-3 series. It is expected to improve precision and timeliness of global numerical weather prediction based on its high-precision imaging and vertical observation capacity.
The Fengyun-3E satellite will be the world's first polar orbit satellite to operate in the dawn-dusk orbit, which will fill a gap in current meteorological observations.
China now has seven Fengyun weather satellites in orbit.
An image of sea ice filmed by a Fengyun meteorological satellite [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
(Executive editor: Wang Ruoting)
