A Long March 4B carrier rocket was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China's Gansu Province on April 16, sending the Fengyun-3G satellite (FY-3G) into selected orbit.
A Long March 4B carrier rocket, carrying the Fengyun-3G satellite (FY-3G), is ready for launch at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China's Gansu Province [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
Both the carrier rocket and the satellite were designed and developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
The three-stage normal temperature liquid fuel Long March 4B rocket can be used to launch different types of satellites with various orbit requirements, and can carry single or multiple satellites in a single flight. It can carry a payload of up to 2.5 metric tons into the 700-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit.
The FY-3G satellite is China's first inclined-low-orbit and non-sun-synchronous meteorological satellite specialized for rain measurement, and the third active precipitation monitoring satellite in the world.
Equipped with precipitation monitoring radar, a microwave imager, a medium-resolution spectral imager and a worldwide navigation satellite occultation detection instrument, the satellite is expected to play a key role in China's three-dimensional precipitation detection.
So far, China has successfully launched a total of 20 Fengyun meteorological satellites.
The launch on April 16 was the 471st launch of the Long March rocket series.
(Executive editor: Xie Yunxiao)
